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The  Inside  Workings  .  ^^* 

OF  THE  '/^     ^y 

RECONSTRUCTION   OF  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  J^^ 

IN  FLORIDA  AFTER  THE  CLOSE  ^^t" 

OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR.  ^ 


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Qj^  By  John  Wallace, 

^■^^  Price  $1.50. 


T^ate  Senator  from  I.eon  Countv. 


OACOSTA    PTG^    ANU    PUB.   HOUSE,    JACKSONVILLE,     FLA. 


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JOHN     WALLACE. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA 


The  Inside  Workings 


or   THB 


RECONSTRUCTION    OF   CIVIL   GOVERNMENT 

IN  FLORIDA  AFTER  THE  CLOSE 

OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR 


BY  JOHN  WALLACE. 

Late  Senator  from  Leon  County. 


JACKSONVILLE,  FLA. : 
DA  O08TA  PBDCriNQ  AND  PUBUSIUNO  HOUBE. 


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PREFACE. 

The  author  of  this  work  was  born  in  North  Carolina  and  held  as  a  slave  until 
1862,  when  he  made  his  escape  while  General  Burnside  was  operating  with  his  army 
against  the  Confederacy  in  that  State.  He  went  to  Washington,  D.  C,  after  which 
he  entered  the  United  States  Army  on  the  14th  of  August,  1863,  enlisting  in  the 
Second  United  States  Colored  Troops  raised  in  that  city,  and  served  two  years  and 
six  months  in  that  regiment,  which  was  engaged  in  the  operations  of  the  Federal 
forces  in  Florida  in  the  year  1864,  and  the  early  part  of  1865.  Discharged  from  the 
service  of  the  United  States  at  Key  West,  January  ist,  1866,  he  returned  to  Tallahas- 
see, where  he  has  since  resided  up  to  this  period.  He  had  no  education  while  a 
slave,  and  never  had  the  benefit  of  any  school  before  or  since  he  was  discharged 
from  the  army,  and  has  acquired  what  knowledge  he  may  have  of  letters  from  con- 
stant study  at  night,  which  studies  he  was  compelled  to  relax  on  account  of  injury 
to  his  eyes  by  the  explosion  of  a  bomb  shell,  near  his  face,  thrown  by  the  enemy  at 
the  battle  of  Fort  Myers,  Florida.  His  physicians  advised  him  that  if  he  persisted 
in  pursuing  his  studies  it  would  result  in  total  blindness .  He  has  acquired  the 
knowledge  of  facts  upon  which  this  work  treats  by  being  constantly  in  the  midst  of 
the  actors  of  the  theatre  of  this  period.  He  was  first  appointed  a  messenger  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1868,  and  upon  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  was 
elected  Constable  for  Leon  County,  the  Capital  of  the  State,  serving  for  two  years. 
Was  elected  twice  to  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature,  serving  four  years ;  and 
twice  elected  to  the  Senate,  where  he  served  for  eight  years. 

In  submitting  this  work  to  the  public,  the  author  does  not  attempt  to  present  a 
work  adorned  with  beauties  of  rhetoric,  as  he  would  desire,  but  has  resorted,  as 
far  as  his  limited  ability  would  permit,  to  such  language  in  the  construction  of  sen- 
tences as  he  judged  would  give  the  reader  a  fair  conception  of  the  transactions 
which  took  place  during  the  period  mentioned  in  the  title  of  the  work. 

The  design  of  this  work  is  to  correct  the  settled  and  erroneous  impression 
that  has  gone  out  to  the  world  that  the  former  slaves,  when  enfranchised,  had  no 
conception  of  good  government,  and  therefore  their  chief  ambition  was  corruption 
and  plunder ;  to  prove  that,  although  they  had  been  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years  deprived  of  that  training  calculated  to  fit  a  people  for  citizenship  of  a  great  re- 
public like  ours,  yet  their  constant  contact  with  a  more  enlightened  race,  though  in 
the  position  of  slaves,  would  have  made  them  better  citizens  and  more  honest  legis- 
lators if  they  had  not  been  contaminated  by  strange  white  men  who  represented 
themselves  to  them  as  their  saviours  ;  that  the  laws  of  the  State,  passed  with  refer- 
ence to  the  colored  people  in  1865,  were  not  enacted  as  a  whole  to  be  enforced,  but 
to  deter  the  colored  people  from  revenging  any  real  or  fancied  wrongs  that  cruel 
masters  may  have  inflicted  while  they  were  slaves;  that  these  laws  and  the  secret 
leagues,  riveted  the  former  slaves  to  these  strangers,  who  explained  them  to  be  ten- 
fold worse  than    they  were;   that  it  was  white  men,  and  not  colored  men,  who 


^  PREFACE. 

originated  cormption  and  enriched  themselves  from  the  earnings  of  the  people  of 
the  State  from  the  year  1868  to  1877  ;  that  the  loss  of  the  State  to  the  National  Re- 
publican Party  was  not  due  to  any  unfaithfulness  of  the  colored  people  to  that 
party,  but  to  the  corruption  of  these  strange  white  leaders  termed  "carpet  baggers;" 
that  the  colored  people  have  done  as  well  as  any  other  people  could  have  done  un- 
der the  same  circumstances,  if  not  better.  This  work  is  further  intended  to  prove 
that  notwithstanding  the  blunders  of  the  ex-slaveholder  towards  the  colored  peo- 
ple, the  deception  and  betrayal  by  the  carpet  baggers  of  the  colored  people  into  the 
hands  of  their  former  masters,  yet  they,  like  the  thunder-riven  oak,  have  de- 
fied the  storm  which  has  now  spent  its  terrific  force,  and  like  a  caravan  of  deter- 
mined pioneers  cutting  out  highways  in  a  new  country,  the  Negro  is  laying  the 
foundation  for  a  civilization  that  shall  be  fully  equal  in  every  respect  to  that  of  any 
other  race  or  people  ;  and  that  the  ascendancy  of  the  Democratic  party  to  the  State 
government  in  1877,  has  proved  a  blessing  in  disguise  to  the  colored  people  of 
TnariOA.  Respectfully, 

JOHN  WALLACE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  Formation  of  Civil  Government  After  the  War.  The  Address 
and  Proclamation  of  Provisional  Governor  Authorizing  the 
Election  of  Delegates  to  Amend  the  Constitution.  The  Number 
of  Delegates.  Negroes  Excluded  from  Voting  by  Governor's 
Proclamation.     Election  Held.     Number  of  Votes  Cast. 

On  July  13th,  A.  D.  1865,  President  Andrew  Johnson  ap- 
pointed William  Marvin,  Esq. ,  as  Provisional  Governor  of  Flor- 
ida, to  proceed  to  establish  civil  government.  The  President 
embodied  in  the  commission  of  the  Provisional  Governor  an  in- 
junction that  no  person  should  be  allowed  to  vote  for  the  dele- 
gates to  any  convention  called  by  his  authority  who  was  not  a 
qualified  voter  before  the  loth  of  January,  A.  D.  1 861— or,  in 
plain  words,  that  no  negro  should  be  allowed  to  vote  at  said 
election.  It  will  be  noticed  hereafter  that  although  there  were 
hundreds  of  negro  soldiers  garrisoning  different  parts  of  the 
State,  who  had  shared,  in  common  with  their  white  brethren, 
the  fatigues,  sufferings  and  dangers  of  war  and  the  battle  field, 
and  a  great  many  of  those  inhabitants  and  natives  of  Florida 
were  enrolled  and  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
had  marched  and  fought  side  by  side  with  the  First  and  Second 
Florida  Cavalry,  two  white  Federal  regiments  raised  in  Florida, 
they  were  called  upon  and  commanded  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  aid,  encourage  and  assist  in  establishing  a  gov- 
ernment in  Florida  which  excluded  them  from  enjoying  the  same 
privileges  that  their  white  brothers  enjoyed.  The  Provisional 
Governor  carried  out  in  letter  and  spirit  the  President's  procla- 
mation, and  issued  an  address  to  the  people  of  Florida  setting 
forth  his  duties  and  the  duties  of  the  voters.  The  address  and 
proclamation  of  the  Provisional  Governor  are  as  follows  : 

To  THE  People  of   Florida  : 

The  civil  authorities  in  this  State  having  engaged  in  an 
organized  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,   have,   with  the  overthrow   of   the   rebellion,    ceased  to 


6  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

exist,  and  the  State,  though  in  the  Union,  is  without  a  civil 
government.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  declares 
that  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  the 
Union  a  republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each 
of  these  against  invasion,  insurrection  and  domestic  violence. 

*'  In  order  to  fulfill  this  guaranty,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
enabling  the  loyal  people  of  the  State  to  organize  a  Slate  gov- 
ernment, whereby  justice  may  be  established,  domestic  tran- 
quillity insured  and  loyal  citizens  protected  in  all  their  rights  of 
life,  liberty  and  property,  the  President  of  the  United  States  has 
appointed  me  Provisional  Governor  of  the  State,  and  made  it 
my  duty,  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  to  prescribe  such 
rules  and  regulations  as  may  be  necessary  and  proper  for  con- 
vening a  convention  composed  of  delegates  to  be  chosen  by  that 
portion  of  the  people  of  the  State  who  are  loyal  to  the  United 
States,  and  no  others,  for  the  purpose  of  altering  or  amending 
the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  with  authority  to  exercise 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  all  the  powers  necessary  and  proper 
to  enable  the  loyal  people  of  the  State  to  restore  it  to  its  constitu- 
tional relations  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  to  present  such 
a  republican  form  of  State  government  as  will  entitle  the  State  to 
the  guaranty  of  the  United  States  therefor,  and  its  people  to 
protection  by  the  United  States  against  invasion,  insurrection 
and  domestic  violence. 

*♦  In  the  performance  of  the  duty  thus  enjoined  upon  me  by 
the  President,  I  shall,  as  soon  as  the  people  of  the  State  have 
had  the  opportunity  to  qualify  themselves  to  become  voters,  ap- 
point an  election,  to  be  held  in  the  different  counties  of  the 
State,  of  delegates  to  a  State  convention  to  be  convened  at  a 
time  and  place  to  be  hereafter  named. 

"The  persons  qualified  to  vote  at  such  election  of  delegates, 
and  the  persons  eligible  as  members  of  such  convention,  will  be 
such  ])ersons  as  shall  have  previously  taken  and  subscribed  the 
oath  of  amnesty  as  set  forth  in  the  President's  proclamation  of 
May  29th,  A.  D.  1865,  and  as  are  also  qualified  as  prescribed 
by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  in  force  immediately 
before  the  ^'fth  day  of  January,  i."s6r,  the  date  of  the  so-called 
ordinance  of  secession.  Where  the  person  is  exempted  from 
the  benefits  of  the  amnesty  proclamation,  he  must  also  have  been 
previously  specially  pardoned  by  the  President  before  he  can  be- 
come a  (jualified  voter  or  eligible  as  a  member  of  the  convention. 
This  interpretation  of  the  proclamation  of  the  President  I  have 
received  from  himself  in  person,  and  also  from  the  Attorney- 
General.  The  oath  referred  to  may  be  administered  by  and  taken 
and  subscribed  before  any  commissioned  official,  civil,  military 
or  naval,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  or  any  civil  or  mil- 
itary  officer   of  a   loyal    Sike   or    'territory   who,   by   the    laws 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  7 

thereof,  is  qualified  to  administer  oaths.  The  officer  adminis- 
tering the  oath  is  authorized  and  required  to  give  to  the  person 
taking  it  certified  copies  thereof. 

"  In  order  to  give  the  well  disposed  people  of  this  State 
time  and  opportunity  to  qualify  themselves  to  be  voters  for  dele- 
gates to  the  convention,  the  election  will  not  be  held  until  a  rea- 
sonable time  has  elapsed  for  them  to  take  and  subscribe  the  oath 
required,  and  to  procure  the  special  pardon,  where  such  pardon 
is  a  prerequisite  qualification.  The  election  will  be  held  imme- 
diately thereafter,  and  no  allowance  will  be  made  for  unreason- 
able delays  in  applying  for  pardons. 

''Applications  for  pardon  should  be  in  writing,  and  ad- 
dressed to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  state  the 
grounds  on  which  a  special  pardon  is  considered  necessary.  The 
application  should  have  attached  to  it  the  original  oath  or  affir- 
mation contained  in  the  proclamation  of  amnesty.  In  most  cases, 
the  application  for  pardon  will  not  be  acted  upon  by  the  Presi- 
dent until  it  has  received  the  recommendation  of  the  Provision- 
al Governor.  It  will  save  time,  therefore,  to  seek  his  recom- 
mendation in  the  first  instance.  The  application  should  then  be 
sent  to  the  office  of  the  Attorney-General.  I  have  been  informed 
by  the  military  authorities  that  a  considerable  number  of  Posts 
have  already  been  established  in  the  State,  and  others  soon  will 
be,  with  officers  attached,  authorized  to  administer  the  oath  re- 
quired, and  to  give  certified  copies  thereof,  so  as  thereby  to  give 
every  facility  for  taking  the  oath,  with  little  or  no  inconvenience 
or  expense  to  applicants. 

"  In  the  meantime,  and  until  the  re-establishment  of  a  State 
government,  it  is  left  to  the  military  authorities  to  preserve  peace 
and  order,  and  protect  the  rights  of  persons  and  property.  An 
understanding  has  been  had  with  the  Commander  of  the  De- 
partment whereby  persons  occupying  the  offices  of  Judge  of 
Probate  may  continue  to  take  proof  of  wills  and  issue  letters 
testamentary  and  of  administration,  and  Clerks  of  Circuit  Court 
may  take  proof  or  acknowledgment  of  deeds  and  mortgages,  and 
record  the  same,  as  heretofore,  and  all  persons  occupying  minis- 
terial offices  may  continue  to  perform  such  duties  and  offices  as 
are  essential  and  convenient  to  the  transaction  of  business.  If 
any  doubt  should  hereafter  arise  concerning  the  validity  of  their 
acts,  such  doubts  can  be  removed  by  a  legislative  act  of  confir- 
mation. 

'*  By  operation  and  results  of  the  war,  slavery  has  ceased  to 
exist  in  the  State.  It  cannot  be  revived.  Every  voter  for  dele- 
gates to  the  convention,  in  taking  the  amnesty  oath,  takes  a 
solemn  oath  to  support  the  freedom  of  the  former  slave.  The 
freedom  intended  is  the  full,  ample,  and  complete  freedom  of  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States.     This  does  not  necessarily  include 


8  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

the  privilege  of  voting,  but  it  does  include  the  idea  of  future  pos- 
session and  quiet  enjoyment.  The  question  of  his  voting  is  an 
open  question — a  proper  subject  for  discussion — and  is  to  be  de- 
cided as  a  question  of  sound  policy  by  the  convention  to  be 
called. 

"On  the  establishment  of  a  republican  form  of  State  gov- 
ernment under  the  constitution  which  guarantees  and  secures 
liberty  to  all  the  inhabitants  alike,  without  distinction  of  color, 
there  will  no  longer  exist  any  impediment  in  the  way  of  restor- 
ing the  State  to  its  proper  constitutional  relations  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  whereby  the  people  will  be  entitled 
to  protection  by  the  United  States  against  invasion,  insurrection, 
and  domestic  violence. 

*'  Dated  at  Jacksonville,  Florida,  this  third  day  of  August, 

1865. 

WILLIAM   MARVIN, 

Provisional  Governor." 

As  the  proclamation  of  the  Governor  authorizing  the  hold- 
ing of  the  election  for  delegates  contains  but  very  little  more 
than  what  appears  in  his  address  to  the  people  of  Florida, 
the  author  deemed  it  necessary  to  have  only  such  parts  of  it  con- 
tained in  this  work  as  do  not  appear  in  his  address.  The  dele- 
gates were  apportioned  among  the  several  counties  as  follows ; 
Escambia,  two ;  Santa  Rosa,  two ;  Walton,  two ;  Holmes,  one ; 
Washington,  one;  Jackson,  three;  Calhoun,  one;  Franklin, 
one;  Liberty,  one;  Gadsden,  three;  Leon,  four;  Jefferson, 
three;  Madison,  two;  Taylor,  one;  Lafayette,  one;  Hamilton, 
two;  Suwannee,  one;  Columbia,  two;  Baker,  one;  Bradford, 
one;  Nassau,  one;  St.  Johns,  one;  Duval,  one;  Clay,  one; 
Putnam,  one;  Alachua,  two;  Marion,  two;  I-evy,  one;  Her- 
nando, one;  Hillsborough,  one;  Manatee,  one;  Polk,  one; 
Orange,  one ;  Volusia,  one ;  Brevard,  one  ;  Sumter,  one  ;  Mon- 
roe, one  ;  and  Dade,  one.  The  proclamation  set  forth  the  quali- 
fication of  voters  as  follows  :  "Free  white  soldiers,  seamen  and 
marines  in  the  army  0/  navy  of  the  United  States,  who  were 
qualified  by  their  residence  to  vote  in  said  State  at  the  same  time 
of  their  enlistment,  and  who  shall  have  taken  and  subscribed 
the  amnesty  oath,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  the  county  where 
they  respectively  reside."  "  But  no  soldier,  seaman  or  marine, 
not  a  resident  of  the  State  at  the  time  of  his  enlistment  shall  be 
allowed  to  vote."      "  Every  free  white  male  person  of  the  age  of 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  9 

twenty-one  years  and  upwards,  and  who  shall  be,  at  the  time  of 
offering  to  vote,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall 
have  resided  and  had  his  home  in  the  State  for  one  year  next 
preceding  the  election,  and  for  six  months  in  the  county  in 
which  he  may  offer  to  vote,"  and  also  take  the  oath  prescribed 
by  the  President  in  his  amnesty  proclamation,  were  entitled  to 
vote.  The  election  was  held  in  the  several  counties  of  the  State 
on  the  loth  day  of  October,  A.  D.,  1865,  according  to  procla- 
mation ordering  said  election,  dated  September  nth,  1865. 

The  Judges  of  Probate  in  the  several  counties,  and  the 
Clerks  of  Circuit  Court,  in  case  of  the  inability,  absence,  or 
other  cause,  the  Probate  Judges  failing  to  act,  were  authorized 
to  appoint  the  Inspectors  of  Election.  The  Clerk  and  County 
Judge  were  also  authorized  to  call  to  their  assistance  two  re- 
spectable inhabitants  having  the  qualification  of  voters,  and  pub- 
licly count  the  votes  cast,  and  to  furnish  to  each  person  elected  a 
certificate  of  his  election,  and  also  to  forward  a  certificate  of  the 
election  of  each  delegate  to  the  Provisional  Governor  at  Talla- 
hassee. The  Inspectors  of  Election  were  required  to  administer 
the  amnesty  oath  to  any  person  at  the  polls  who  could  not  ex- 
hibit a  certificate  of  his  having  taken  the  oath  previously. 

The  number  of  qualified  voters  up  to  the  day  of  election 
was  eight  thousand  five  hundred  and  twelve.  The  number  of 
Yotes  cast  for  delegates  was  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seven. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Asse7nbling  of  the  Comention.  The  Election  of  the  Presiding 
Officer.  Different  Opinions  of  the  Delegates  as  to  the  Negro 
Problem  Before  They  Received  the  Governor's  Message.  The 
Governor's  Message  Sohes  and  Settles  the  Problem.  Negroes 
Testifying  in  Courts  of  Justice. 

The  convention  met  October  25th,  1865,  and  Hon.  E.  D. 
Tracy,  of  Nassau  County,  was  called  to  the  chair.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Provisional  Governor  and  obtain 
from  him  a  list  of  the  delegates  elected,  which  duty  was  prompdy 
performed  and  the  list  of  delegates  forwarded  to  the  convention 
by  the  Governor,  namely  : 

Leon  County— ]?imt^  L.  Taylor,  G.  Troup  Maxwell,  Thomas 
Baltzcll,  David  P.  Hogue. 

Gadsden  Cou?ity— G tor gt  K.  Walker,  R.  H.  M.  Davidson, 
Arthur  J.  Forman. 

Jefferson  County— \\.  M.  Capers  Bird,  W.  B.  Cooper,  Asa 
May. 

Hamilton  County — William  J.  J-  Duncan,  Alexander  Bell. 

Madison  County— ^N.  J.  Hines,  D.  G.  Livingston. 

Wakulla  G7?/;?/y— James  T.  Magbee. 

Liberty  County — T.  D.  Nixon. 

Jackson  County— Y.  B.  Calloway,  Felix  Leslie,  Allen  H. 
Bush. 

Calhoun  G7i/;;/v— Jackson  Richard. 

Taylor  County — Wiley  W.  Whidden. 

Clay  County — William  Wilson. 

Lafayette  County — Moses  Simmons. 

Putnam  County — Henry  S.  Teasdale. 

St.  Johns  County — James  A.  Michler,  Jr. 

Levy  County — William  R.  Coulter. 

Duval  County— ^.  L.  Burritt. 

Suwannee  County — Silas  Overstreet. 

Columbia  C^/zw/y— Silas  L.  Niblack,  Thomas  T.  Long. 


12  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Nassau  County — E.  D.  Tracy. 
Baker  County — Samuel  N.  Williams. 
Bradford  County — John  C.  Richard. 
Hillsborough  County — James  Gettis. 

Marion  County — James  A.  Wiggins,  Thomas  J.  Pasteur. 
Hernafido  County — Samuel  E.  Hope. 
Monroe  County — Daniel  H.  Winterhurst. 
Dade  County— K.  R.  Fletcher. 
Polk  County — Francis  A.  Hendry. 
Alachua  County — W.  Wash  Scott,  Samuel  Spencer. 
Escambia  County — Benjamin  D.  Wright,  W.  W.  J.  Kelly. 
Walton  County — James  M.  Landrum,  John  Morrison. 
Holmes  County — James  G.  Owens. 
Sumter  County — James  Love. 
Washington  County — Jesse  B.  Lassiter. 
Orange  County— y^iWxdim  H.  Holden. 
Brevard  County — James  F.  P.  Johnson, 
Santa  Rosa  County — Jesse  McLellan,  G.  B.  Dyens. 
Volusia  County — A.  Richardson. 

The  following  was  the  oath  administered  to  the  delegates- 
elect:  "  You  and  each  of  you  do  solemnly  swear  well  and  truly 
to  discharge  your  respective  duties  and  support  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States." 

Thomas  Baltzell,  of  Leon,  and  Benjamin  D.  Wright,  of 
Escambia,  were  put  in  nomination  for  President  of  the  conven- 
tion. There  were  two  ballots  taken  without  an  election,  and  on 
the  third  ballot  Mr.  G.  Troup  Maxwell,  of  Leon,  withdrew  the 
name  of  Baltzell,  and  the  convention  proceeded  to  ballot  for 
Tracy  and  Wright,  Mr.  Tracy  receiving  twenty-four  votes  and 
Wright  fifteen.     Mr.  7Vacy  was  declared  elected. 

This  convention,  composed  largely  of  men  who  had  for 
four  years  worked  and  fought  to  sustain  a  cause  which  was 
finally  lost,  were  willing  to  do  anything  honorable  to  .show  the 
government  that  they  were  acting  in  good  faith,  even  if  it  were 
to  sustain  negro  suffrage  to  a  limited  extent,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  sweeping  message  of  Ciovernor  Marvin,  the  man  appointed 
to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  President.  Some  of  the  gentlemen 
with  whom  I  was  ac{[uainted   expressed   themselves  to  me  that 


CARPETBACx    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I3 

such  a  proposition  would  have  been  carried  before  the  conven- 
tion but  for  the  opposition  of  Governor  Marvin.  The  conven- 
tion seems  to  have  been  entirely,  or  almost  so,  under  the  control 
and  influence  of  the  Provisional  Governor  and  the  military.  It 
will  be  seen  that  they  did  but  very  little  other  than  what  was 
recommended  to  them  by  William  Marvin,  the  President's  agent. 
After  reading  carefully  the  message  and  recommendations  of  the 
Governor  to  this  convention,  and  digesting  the  different  subjects 
treated  in  the  message,  I  leave  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  con- 
clusions as  to  any  injustice  done  the  negro  by  the  convention ; 
whether  it  was  not  in  accordance  strictly  with  the  policy  of 
President  Johnson  ?  Referring  to  the  question  of  negro  suffrage, 
the  Governor  says :  **  Shall  the  elective  franchise  be  conferred 
upon  the  colored  race,  and  if  so  upon  what  terms  and  qualifica- 
tions?" "  1  am  not  advised  that  the  President  has  expressed 
his  views  or  wishes  on  this  subject,  and  I  know  no  more  of  the 
views  or  wishes  of  the  members  of  Congress  than  is  generally 
known."  "  I  cannot  think,  however,  that,  if  the  convention 
shall  abolish  slavery  and  provide  proper  guaranties  for  the  pro- 
tection and  security  of  the  persons  and  property  of  the  freedmen, 
the  Congress  will  refuse  to  admit  our  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives to  their  seats  because  the  freedmen  are  not  allowed  to  vote 
at  the  State  and  other  elections."  **  When  the  question  of  their 
admission  shall  arise,  I  think  the  main  inquiry  will  be,  not  are 
the  freedmen  allowed  to  vote,  but  are  they  guaranteed  in  the 
Constitution  protection  and  security  for  their  persons  and  their 
property."  **It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  the  public  good  of 
the  State,  or  of  the  nation  at  large,  would  be  promoted  by  con- 
ferring at  the  present  time  upon  the  freedmen  the  elective  fran- 
chise." **  Neither  the  white  people  nor  the  colored  people  are 
prepared  for  so  radical  a  change  in  their  social  relations."  ''  Nor 
have  I  any  reason  to  believe  that  any  considerable  number  of 
the  freedmen  desire  to  possess  this  privilege."  The  Governor 
was  capable  of  reasoning  from  a  very  narrow  standpoint  when 
he  asserted  that  no  considerable  number  of  freedmen  desired  the 
full  panoply  of  citizenship,  when  two  hundred  thousand  of  their 
number  had  marched  and  fought  under  our  national  flag  to  assist 
in  putting  down  the  greatest  rebellion  known  in  the  annals  of 
history.     The  message  of  the  Governor  in  reference  to  negro 


14  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

suffrage  was  still  clinging  to  his  conscience  as  a  nightmare  of 
injustice  of  which  he  could  not  rid  himself,  until  he  reached  that 
point  which  brought  him  face  to  face  with  the  question  of  the 
negro  testifying  in  courts  of  justice.  The  Governor  says : 
*'  Heretofore  the  negro,  in  a  condition  of  slavery,  was  to  a  large 
extent  under  the  power  and  protection  of  his  master,  who  felt 
an  interest  in  his  welfare,  not  only  because  he  was  a  dependent 
and  had  been  raised,  perhaps,  in  his  family,  but  because  he  was 
his  property."  "  Now  he  has  no  such  protection,  and  unless  he 
finds  protection  in  the  courts  of  justice  he  becomes  the  victim  of 
every  wicked,  depraved  and  bad  man,  whose  avarice  may 
prompt  him  to  refuse  the  payment  of  his  just  wages,  and  whose 
angry  and  revengeful  passions  may  excite  him  to  abuse  and  mal- 
treat the  helpless  being  placed  by  his  freedom  beyond  the  pale 
of  protection  of  any  kind."  *'  Much  sensitiveness  is  felt  in  this 
and  other  Southern  States  upon  the  subject  of  the  admissibility 
of  negro  testimony  in  courts  of  justice  for  or  against  white  per- 
sons. For  myself,  now  that  the  negro  is  free,  I  do  not  feel  any 
such  sensitiveness.  I  do  not  perceive  the  philosophy  or  expe- 
diency of  any  rule  of  evidence  which  shuts  out  the  truth  from 
the  hearing  of  the  jury.  It  may  be  said  that  the  intention  of 
the  rule  is  to  shut  out  falsehood ;  but  how  can  it  be  known  to 
the  jury  whether  the  testimony  be  true  or  false  until  they  have 
heard  it  and  compared  it  with  the  other  testimony  in  the  case  ?" 
**The  admission  of  negro  testimony  should  not  be  regarded  as 
a  privilege  granted  to  the  negro,  but  as  the  right  of  the  State,  in 
all  criminal  prosecutions,  to  have  his  testimony,  in  coimection 
with  other  testimony,  to  assist  to  establish  the  guilt  of  the  ac- 
cused, and  it  ought,  reciprocally,  to  be  the  right  of  the  accused 
to  have  such  testimony  to  establish  his  innocence.  But  the 
question  of  the  admissibility  of  negro  testimony  is  merely  inci- 
dental to  the  main  subject,  which  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to 
protect  the  negro  in  the  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  his  rights  of 
freedom.  If  this  duty  can  be  adequately  performed,  and  the 
rights  of  the  negro  fully  secured  without  his  being  allowed  to 
make  oath  before  the  courts  of  the  wrongs  and  injuries  done  him, 
then  the  interest  of  the  State  to  have  his  testimony  admitted  will 
be  so  greatly  les.sened  as  to  reduce  the  question  to  one  of  com- 
paratively much   less   importance.     If  the  colored   race  in  this 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 5 

country  can  be  fully  and  fairly  protected  in  the  exercise  and  en- 
joyment of  their  newly  acquired  rights  of  freedom,  then,  in  my 
judgment,  they  will  be  a  quiet  and  contented  people,  unambi- 
tious of  any  political  privileges,  or  of  any  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  the  government.  Protected  in  their  persons  and  prop- 
erty, they  may  be  stimulated  to  be  industrious  and  economical 
by  a  desire  to  acquire  property  in  order  to  educate  themselves 
and  their  children,  and  improve  their  physical,  moral  and  intel- 
lectual condition."  ''  What  their  condition  as  a  race  may  be  at 
the  end  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  years,  I  do  not  think  any  person  is 
wise  enough  to  predict ;  but  we  may  reasonably  hope  and  be- 
lieve that  they  will  progress  and  improve  in  intelligence  and  civ- 
ilization, and  become,  not  many  years  hence,  the  best  free  agri- 
cultural peasantry,  for  our  soil  and  climate,  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen."  "  I  think  a  clause  may  be  so  drawn  as  to  accom- 
plish this  object  and  at  the  same  time  exclude  the  colored  people 
from  any  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the  government." 

*'  May  Almighty  God,  in  whose  hands  are  the  destinies  of 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  without  whose  blessing  all  your 
works  will  be  in  vain,  enlighten  your  understandings  so  that  you 
may  see,  and  mcline  your  wills  so  that  you  may  do  whatever 
will  advance  His  glory  and  promote  the  peace,  the  happiness  and 
the  welfare  of  all  the  people  of  our  beloved  State. 

''WILLIAM  MARVIN, 
"  Provisional  Governor." 

The  Governor  should  have  known,  from  years  of  religious 
training,  that  the  glory  of  God  would  not  be  advanced  by  ex- 
cluding from  the  right  of  citizenship  nearly  one-half  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  State  for  no  other  crime  than  the  color  of  their 
skins.  Not  quite  half  of  the  time  has  passed  in  which  the  Gov- 
ernor predicted  that  the  colored  people  would  only  become  the 
best  agricultural  peasantry  the  world  ever  saw,  and  yet  he  finds 
these  very  people  occupying  nearly  all  the  industries,  occupa- 
tions and  professions  that  are  carried  on  by  their  white  brothers, 
notwithstanding  the  great  odds  against  them  by  reason  of  their 
former  condition. 

The  convention  adjourned  after  a  session  of  twelve  days, 
but  the  Constitution  was  not  submitted  to  the  people  for  ratifica- 


l6  CARPETBAC,    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

tion.  There  is  no  question  that  some  of  the  best  talent  in  the 
State  was  elected  to  the  convention.  Judge  Burritt,  of  Duval, 
an  able  man  and  an  intense  loyalist,  when  advised  of  his  election, 
was  in  New  York  city,  and  immediately  embarked  for  Jackson- 
ville on  the  ill-fated  steamer  "Mount,"  which  was  lost  at  sea 
with  all  on  board.  Had  he  been  permitted  to  take  part  in  the 
convention  and  the  subsequent  measures  of  reconstruction,  it  is 
quite  probable  that  different  results  would  have  been  reached. 
Judge  Baltzell,  also,  was  one  of  the  most  upright,  able,  clear- 
headed members  of  the  convention,  and  had  his  life  been  spared 
he  would  have  been  a  power  for  law,  order  and  government. 
He  was,  without  doubt,  the  ablest  man  in  the  convention,  and 
thoroughly  loyal  to  the  restored  civil  government.  George  K. 
Walker  was  one  of  the  purest  and  best  men  of  the  old  regime. 
He  was  in  very  poor  health,  but  he  was  most  earnest  in  seeking 
to  harmonize  the  conflicts  growing  out  of  the  new  condition  of 
affairs,  and  to  establish  order,  peace  and  civil  law.  On  one  oc- 
casion, when  a  member  of  the  convention  proposed  some  vio- 
lent constitutional  restrictions  upon  the  freedmen,  he  in  earnest 
and  eloquent  strains  admonished  the  member  and  the  conven- 
tion to  "remember  that  we  are  here  only  by  the  grace  of  the 
Federal  government,  and  it  is  not  becoming  in  us  to  deny  to 
others  the  rights  we  claim  for  ourselves,  and  disregard  the  obli- 
gations we  have  assumed  to  the  government  through  whose  lib- 
erality we  stand  here  free  citizens  of  the  Republic." 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  Election  of  the  First  Governor  after  the  Civil  War,  and  the 
Organization  of  the  Legislature  under  the  Constitution  of  1865. 
The  Remarks  by  Governor  Marvin  at  the  Inauguration.  The 
Presence  of  Negro  Troops  Causes  Great  Sensitiveness.  Ex- 
tracts From  Governor  Walker's  Message.  Recommendations 
of  Committee  Appointed  by  Convention.  Laws  Passed  by  the 
General  Assembly,  and  their   Workings. 

Twenty-two  days  after  the  making  and  the  adoption  of  the 
Marvin  Constitution,  an  election  was  held  for  Governor  and  other 
State  officers.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  opposition  candi- 
date for  Governor,  and  no  nominations  were  made  for  that  office. 
The  old  line  Whigs  seem  to  have  had  an  understanding  that 
they  would  not  vote  for  a  Democrat,  as  they  charged  the  Demo- 
crats with  having  brought  on  the  war,  and  as  D.  S.  Walker  had 
figured  so  prominently  in  the  politics  of  the  State,  having  been 
elected  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  one  of  the 
most  popular  leaders  of  the  old  Whig  party,  he  became  the  can« 
didate  for  Governor  by  general  consent.  Democrats  being  anx- 
ious to  get  back  into  the  Union  by  the  help  of  either  friend  or 
foe.  The  election  was  held  on  the  29th  of  December,  and  re- 
sulted in  the  election  of  D.  S.  Walker,  he  receiving  five  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  seventy-three  votes,  with  only  eight  votes 
cast  Against  him.  The  Legislature  met  December  i8th,  1865, 
and  elected  Joseph  John  Williams,  of  Leon  County,  Speaker, 
against  G.  Troup  Maxwell,  of  Leon,  by  a  vote  of  twenty  to 
seventeen. 

The  two  Houses,  after  the  permanent  organization,  met  in 
joint  session  and  canvassed  the  vote  for  Governor,  and  declared 
Walker's  election.  W.  W.  J.  Kelly,  whose  vote  was  only  two 
thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-three,  was  declared  elected 
Lieutenant-Governor.  After  some  preparations  the  Governor- 
elect  came  forward,  accompanied  by  Governor  Marvin,  to   be 

inaugurated.     Governor  Marvin  addressed  the  Legislature,  and 
2 


1 8  CARPETBAO    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

recited  to  them  the  great  difficulties  he  had  to  encounter,  as 
Provisional  Governor,  in  establishing  a  civil  government,  and 
how  he  found  the  State  government  overthrown  and  prostrated, 
with  no  money  in  the  Treasury ;  and  praising  in  the  highest 
terms  the  work  done  by  the  convention,  in  incorporating  in  the 
Constitution  that  '' neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall 
in  future  exist  in  this  State,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  convicted  by  the  courts  of 
this  State,  and  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  without  dis- 
tinction of  color,  are  free  and  shall  enjoy  the  rights  of  person 
and  property  without  distinction  of  color;  and  that  in  all  crimi- 
nal proceedings  founded  upon  an  injury  to  a  colored  person, 
and  in  all  cases  affecting  the  rights  and  remedies  of  colored  per- 
sons, no  person  shall  be  incompetent  to  testify  as  a  witness  on 
account  of  color."  He  reminded  them  of  the  action  of  the 
convention  in  repudiating  the  State  debt  contracted  in  support  of 
the  rebellion,  and  of  the  ordinance  nullifying  secession.  And 
further  to  assure  them  how  heartily  he  endorsed  the  policy  of 
the  previous  convention,  pointed  them  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
humbly  obeyed  the  request  of  the  convention  that  the  civil  offi- 
cers of  the  Confederate  State  Government,  who  had  been  sus- 
pended at  the  surrender,  by  the  military  authority,  had  been  di- 
rected by  him  to  resume  the  exercise  of  their  respective  offices. 
The  colored  troops,  which  the  convention  had  by  resolution  re- 
quested the  Governor  to  exert  himself  to  have  removed  from  the 
interior  of  the  State,  he  informed  them  had  nearly  all  been 
removed  to  the  seaboard  by  the.  General  in  command  at  that 
time.  He  recommended,  among  other  things,  that  a  law  should 
be  passed  that  where  a  laborer  had  entered  into  a  contract  in 
writing  before  the  Judge  of  Probate  or  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
to  labor  upon  a  plantation  for  one  year  for  wages,  or  a  part  of 
the  crop,  and  the  contract  specified  the  wage's  to  be  paid,  and  the 
food  to  be  given,  that  if  the  laborer  abandoned  the  service  of 
his  employer,  or  was  absent  therefrom  two  days  without  the  leave 
of  his  employer,  or  failed  without  just  cause  in  other  important 
particulars  to  perform  his  part  of  the  contract,  that  then  he  may 
be  arrested  by  the  proper  tribunal,  and  if  found  guilty  on  a  hear- 
ing of  the  case,  be  sentenced  to  labor  during  the  unexpired 
term,  without  pay,  upon  the  higways,  in  a  goverment  workshop. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN"    FLORIDA. 


19 


or  upon  a  government  plantation  to  be  rented  or  bought  either 
by  the  State  or  by  the  different  County  Commissioners  in  their 
respective  counties.  He  said  that  the  faith  of  the  nation  was 
pledged  for  the  protection  of  the  freedmen,  and  those  who  had 
been  loyal  to  the  government  during  the  rebellion.  How  the 
Governor  could  with  any  degree  of  reason  conceive  the  idea  that 
the  Confederate  State  Government  that  had,  during  the  war, 
hunted  the  Union  men  like  the  partridge  on  the  mountains,  and 
had  denounced  them  as  deserters  and  spies  to  the  Confederate 
cause,  and  whose  people  had  lost  the  services  of  that  most  valu- 
able adjunct,  the  negro,  whose  stalwart  arm  had  for  years  filled 
their  homes  with  luxury,  could  deal  justly  with  these  two  ele- 
ments is  beyond  comprehension.  After  giving  them  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  religious  training  which  inspires  a  sense  of  justice, 
yet  it  is  not  humane  to  have  expected  them  at  that  period  to 
be  able  to  deal  fairly  and  jusdy  with  those  two  classes  of  our 
population.  It  might  be  inferred  from  the  attitude  of  the  conven- 
tion relative  to  the  removal  of  the  colored  troops  from  the  in- 
terior that  the  black  soldiers  stationed  in  the  different  parts  of 
Florida  at  the  close  of  the  war  were  very  overbearing  in  their 
conduct  toward  the  ex-slaveholders,  and  incited  the  freedmen  to 
lawlessness;  but  such  was  not  the  case.  There  were  several 
colored  regiments  scattered  through  the  interior;  among  them 
was  the  Second  United  States  Colored  Infantry,  raised  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. ,  two-thirds  of  its  members  being  ex-slaves,  and  dur- 
ing the  entire  time  they  were  stationed  here  I  know  of  no  com- 
plaint made  against  them  of  any  misconduct  toward  the  ex- 
slaveholders.  In  fact,  when  any  of  the  white  citizens  were  ac- 
cused or  arrested  for  any  offense  against  the  military  authorities, 
they  would  always  request  the  officer  in  command  to  have  them 
arrested  and  guarded  by  the  colored  troops.  They  were  spoken 
of  by  the  whites  in  the  very  highest  terms  as  to  their  conduct 
and  general  appearance,  and  thousands  of  whites  would  come 
out  to  witness  their  dress  parade,  and  would  often  bring  out 
their  families,  and  not  one  word  of  insult  was  ever  offered  to 
them  unless  first  insulted  by  the  ex-slaveholder — who  was  always 
some  low  fellow  who  had  shirked  the  Confederate  army,  and 
who  imagined  that  such  insults  would  palliate  his  shame.  The  rea- 
son why  they  desired  the  colored  troops  removed  was  that  they 


20  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

believed  the  freedmen  would  be  induced  by  the  presence  of  these 
soldiers  to  be  continually  lying  around  their  camps  to  the  neglect 
of  their  crops,  but  these  fears  were  unfounded ;  for  the  freedmen 
were  seldom  seen  around  the  camps  unless  they  came  to  ex- 
change products  for  soldier  clothes  or  for  money. 

After  Governor  Marvin  had  concluded  his  remarks,  Hon. 
D.  S.  Walker,  Governor-elect,  came  forward  and  took  the  oath 
of  office,  which  was  administered  by  the  Hon.  C.  H.  Dupont, 
Chief  Justice.  The  Governor  began  his  address  by  warning  the 
Joint  Assembly  and  the  large  audience  against  the  bitterness  of 
party  strife,  which  four  years  previously  had  plunged  the  coun- 
try into  civil  war.     He  said  : 

*'By  failing  to  regard  the  disinterested  warnings  of  the 
Father  of  his  country  against  the  baneful  effects  of  the  spirit  of 
party,  and  particularly  when  founded  on  geographical  discrimi- 
nation; by  omitting,  as  he  advised,  to  remember  that  the  jeal- 
ousy of  a  free  people  ought  to  be  constantly  awake  against  the 
insiduous  wiles  of  foreign  influence,  and  by  neglecting,  as  he 
recommended,  to  frown  indignantly  upon  the  first  dawning  of 
every  attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the 
rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  together  the 
various  parts,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  nearly  five  years 
ago,  became  involved  in  the  terrific  civil  strife  which  has  but  re- 
cently ended.  We  now  hope  that  by  a  strict  adherence  to  his 
advice,  the  unity  of  the  government  which  constitutes  us  one 
people  will  again  become  dear  to  us." 

The  Governor  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  subject  of  se- 
cession, which  he  attempted  to  defend  in  a  very  astute  manner, 
well  calculated  to  lead  the  youth  of  the  State  to  believe  that  it 
was  right.     He  said  : 

**  During  the  late  unhappy  conflict,  some  of  us  were  known 
as  Union  men ;  some  as  Constitutional  Secessionists  ;  and  others 
as  Revolutionists.  A  glorious  opportunity  is  now  afforded  to 
fling  away  these  names,  and  with  them  the  strifes  they  have  en- 
gendered, and  to  meet,  as  brethren  ought  to  meet,  upon  the 
platform  of  the  Constitution  which  our  fathers  made  for  us  in 
1787.  If  I  shall  be  permitted  to  administer  the  government,  I 
shall  know  no  distinctions  between  citizens  on  account  of  past 
political  difl"erences.     I  will  not  condemn  the  Union  man,  be- 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  21 

cause  I  know  from  experience  how  completely  the  love  of  the 
Union  becomes  a  part  of  our  very  existence,  and  how  it  is  en- 
deared to  us  by  a  thousand  glorious  recollections  and  as  many 
brilliant  anticipations.  I  know  that  the  heart  of  Florida's  great- 
est and  most  renowned  citizen  was  literally  broken  by  the  sever- 
ance of  the  Union.  Nor  will  I  condemn  the  Constitutional  Se- 
cessionist, because  I  know  that,  though  he  differed  from  me, 
his  side  of  the  question  was  supported  by  arguments,  if  not  un- 
answerable, yet  of  great  plausibility,  and  by  the  authority  of 
many  of  the  greatest  names  that  this  country  has  ever  produced. 
Nor  yet  will  I  condemn  the  Revolutionist,  for  I  know  that  he, 
though  originally  opposed  to  secession,  went  into  the  war,  after 
the  fact  was  done,  upon  the  conviction  that  it  was  no  longer  an 
open  question,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  every  man  to  stand 
or  fall  with  his  own  section.  In  fact,  great  questions  connected 
with  the  integrity  of  the  Union  were,  before  the  war,  so  unset- 
tled, and  the  opinions  of  great  men  so  varied,  that  it  required 
a  man  greatly  superior  to  myself  to  say  with  certainity  who  was 
right  and  who  was  wrong.  Seeing  the  different  luminaries  which 
guided  our  people,  I  am  not  astonished  that  the  very  best  men 
in  our  land  were  found  arrayed  in  opposing  ranks.  I  need  not 
enumerate  the  host  of  great  men  who  stood  with  the  immortal 
Clay  for  the  integrity  of  the  Union  and  against  the  doctrine  of  se- 
cession. The  logic  of  events  has  proved  that  they  were  right. 
But  among  those  who  held  the  contrary  doctrine  that  a  State 
might  secede  from  the  Union  without  infraction  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  we  find  the  names  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Rawle,  a 
distinguished  lawyer  of  Pennsylvania,  to  whom  General  Wash- 
ington more  than  once  tendered  the  office  of  Attorney-General 
of  the  United  States;  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke;  Nathaniel 
Macon,  of  North  Carolina;  Mr.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina; 
P.  P.  Barbour,  a  late  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States ;  and  Judge  McKean,  a  late  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania.  Those  who  advocated  the 
right  of  revolution  quoted  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Webster,  that  'a 
bargain  broken  on  one  side  was  broken  on  all  sides,'  and  that  'if 
the  North  should  not  obey  the  Constitution  in  regard  to  the  ren- 
dition of  fugitive  slaves,  the  South  would  no  longer  be  bound 
by  the  compact.'     Mr.  Greeley,  then,  as  now,  a  great  leader  of 


22  CARPETRA(;    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Northern  sentiment,  had  said  that  '  he  could  not  see  how  twenty 
millions  of  people  could  rightfully  hold  ten,  or  even  five,  in  a 
Union  with  them  by  military  force  ;'  and  again,  *  if  seven  or 
eight  States  should  send  agents  to  Washington  to  say  we  want  to 
get  out  of  the  Union,  he  should  feel  constrained  by  his  devo- 
tion to  human  rights  to  say,  let  them  go.'  In  this  connection  he 
also  quoted  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  '  Govern- 
ments are  instituted  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed ;'  and  that 
when  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to 
institute  a  new  government.  Mr.  Lincoln,  prior  to  his  first  elec- 
tion, had  acknowledged  this  principle,  with  the  addition,  that 
not  only  a  people,  but  any  part  of  a  people,  being  sufficient  in 
numbers  to  make  a  respectable  government,  might  set  up  for 
themselves.  Mr.  Tyler,  a  late  President  of  the  United  States, 
held  to  the  doctrine  of  secession,  and  Mr.  Buchanan,  the  then 
President  of  the  United  States,  said,  just  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war,  that  while  he  thought  a  State  had  no  right  to 
leave  the  Union,  yet  if  she  should  leave  it,  the  remaining 
States  would  have  no  right  to  coerce  her  to  return.  Amidst 
these  various  and  conflicting  views,  all  supported  by  the  highest 
authority,  it  is  no  wonder  that  our  people  should  have  been  be- 
wildered, or  that,  being  forbidden  by  the  turn  of  events,  to  re- 
main neutral,  some  should  have  adhered  to  the  Union  and  others 
to  the  State." 

The  Governor  next  turned  his  attention  to  that  problem 
which  had  perplexed  the  statesman,  the  philanthropist  and  the 
philosopher  for  more  than  half  a  century  : — '*  What  shall  we  do 
with  the  Negro?"     He  said  : 

"I  think  we  are  bound  by  every  consideration  of  duty, 
gratitude  and  interest,  to  make  these  people  as  enlightened,  pros- 
perous and  happy  as  their  new  situation  will  admit.  For  gen- 
erations past  they  have  been  our  faithful,  contented  and  happy 
slaves.  They  have  been  attached  to  our  persons  and  our  for- 
tunes, sharing  with  us  all  our  feelings,  rejoicing  with  us  in  our 
prosperity,  mourning  with  us  in  our  adversity.  If  there  were 
exceptions  to  this  general  rule,  they  were  only  individual  excep- 
tions. Every  Southern  man  who  hears  me  knows  that  what  I 
say  is  literally  true   in   regard  to  the  vast    mass  of  our  colored 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  23 

population.  The  world  has  never  before  seen  such  a  body  of 
slaves.  For  not  only  in  peace,  but  in  war,  they  have  been  faith- 
ful to  us.  During  much  of  the  time  of  the  late  unhappy  diffi- 
culties, Florida  had  a  greater  number  of  men  in  the  army  be- 
yond her  limits  than  constituted  her  entire  voting  population. 
This  of  course  stripped  many  districts  of  their  entire  arms-bear- 
ing inhabitants,  and  left  our  females  and  infant  children  almost 
exclusively  to  the  protection  of  our  slaves.  They  proved  true 
to  their  trust.  Not  one  instance  of  insult,  outrage  or  indignity 
has  ever  come  to  my  knowledge.  They  remained  at  home  and 
made  provisions  for  our  army.  Many  of  them  went  with  our 
sons  to  the  army,  and  there,  too,  proved  their  fidelity— attend- 
ing them  when  well,  nursing  and  caring  for  them  when  sick  and 
wounded.  We  all  know  that  many  of  them  were  willing,  and 
some  of  them  anxious,  to  take  up  arms  in  our  cause.  Although 
for  several  years  within  sound  of  the  guns  of  the  vessels  of  the 
United  States,  for  six  hundred  miles  along  our  seaboard,  yet 
scarcely  one  in  a  thousand  voluntarily  left  our  agricultural  ser- 
vice to  take  shelter  and  freedom  under  the  flag  of  the  Union. 
It  is  not  their  fault  that  they  are  free — they  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it ;  that  was  brought  about  by  the  results  and  operations  of 
the  war.  But  they  are  free.  They  are  no  longer  our  contented 
and  happy  slaves,  with  an  abundant  supply  of  food  and  clothing 
for  themselves  and  families,  and  the  intelligence  of  a  superior 
race  to  look  ahead  and  make  all  necessary  arrangements  for  their 
comfort.  They  are  now  a  discontented  and  unhappy  people, 
many  of  them  houseless  and  homeless,  roaming  about  in  gangs 
over  the  land,  not  knowmg  one  day  where  the  supplies  for  the 
next  are  to  come  from ;  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  disease  and 
famine;  exposed  to  the  temptations  of  theft  and  robbery,  by 
which  they  are  often  overcome;  without  the  intelligence  to  pro- 
vide for  themselves  when  well,  or  to  care  for  themselves  when 
sick,  and  doomed  to  untold  sufferings  and  ultimate  extinction 
unless  we  intervene  for  their  protection  and  preservation.  Will 
we  do  it  ?  I  repeat,  we  are  bound  to  do  it,  by  every  consider- 
ation of  gratitude  and  interest." 

The  whites  being  to  some  extent  exasperated  about  the  free- 
dom of  the  slaves,  and  not  knowing  what  their  conduct  might 
be  as  free  laborers,  talk  of  the  importation  of  white  labor  from 


24  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Germany,  Ireland,  Italy  and   other  countries,  was  quite  preva- 
lent.    As  to  this  subject  the  Governor  said : 

"  But  let  us  always  remember  that  we  have  a  laboring  class 
of  our  own  which  is  entitled  to  the  preference.  It  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  white  labor  is  cheaper.  I  trust  we  are  not  so 
far  degraded  as  to  consult  interest  alone.  But  interest  alone 
would  dictate  that  it  is  better  to  give  these  people  employment 
and  enable  them  to  support  themselves,  than  have  them  remain 
upon  our  hands  as  a  pauper  race ;  for  here  they  are,  and  here, 
for  weal  or  woe,  they  are  obliged  to  stay.  We  must  remember 
that  these  black  people  are  natives  of  this  country  and  have  a 
pre-emption  right  to  be  recipients  of  whatever  favors  we  may 
have  to  bestow.  We  must  protect  them,  if  not  against  the  com- 
petition, at  any  rate  against  the  exactions  of  white  immigrants. 
They  will  expect  our  black  laborers  to  do  as  much  work  in  this 
climate  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to  see  white  ones  perform 
in  more  northern  latitudes.  We  know  that  they  cannot  do  it. 
They  never  did  it  for  us  as  slaves,  and  the  experience  of  the 
last  six  months  shows  that  they  will  do  no  better  as  freedmen. 
Our  fathers  of  1783  knew  that  it  takes  five  black  men  to  do  the 
work  of  three  white  ones,  and  consequendy,  in  adjusting  the 
apportionment  of  taxes  upon  the  basis  of  labor  and  industry  of 
the  country,  eleven  of  the  thirteen  States  of  the  old  confedera- 
tion recommended  that  every  five  blacks  be  counted  as  only 
three.  And  if  we  can  offer  sufficient  inducements,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  the  black  man,  as  a  field  laborer  in  our  cli- 
mate, will  prove  more  efficient  that  the  imported  white." 

Referring  to  the  question  of  negro  suffrage,  the  Governor 
said  : 

"  We  have  been  able  to  give  an  honest  and  conscientious  as- 
sent to  all  that  has  been  done,  but  each  one  of  us  knows  that  we 
could  not  give  either  an  honest  or  conscientious  assent  to  negro 
suffrage.  There  is  not  one  of  us  that  would  not  feel  that  he 
was  doing  wrong,  and  bartering  his  self-respect,  his  conscience 
and  his  duty  to  his  country  and  to  the  Union  itself,  for  the  bene- 
fits he  might  hope  to  obtain  by  getting  back  into  the  Union. 
Much  as  I  worshipped  the  Union,  and  much  as  I  would  rejoice 
to  see  my  State  once  more  recognized  as  a  member  thereof,  yet 
it  is  better,  a  thousand  times  better,  that  she  should  remain   out 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  2$ 

of  the  Union,  even  as  one  of  her  subjugated  provinces,  than  go 
back  'eviscerated  of  her  manhood,'  despoiled  of  her  honor,  re- 
creant to  her  duty,  without  her  self-respect,  and  of  course  with- 
out the  respect  of  the  balance  of  mankind — a  miserable  thing, 
with  seeds  of  moral  and  political  death  in  herself,  soon  to  be 
communicated  to  all  her  associates." 

With  the  feelings  that  existed  at  that  period  among  a  goodly 
number  of  the  whites  with  reference  to  the  freedom  of  the  ne- 
gro, I  must  confess  that  it  took  a  great  deal  of  courage  for  the 
Governor  to  assert  the  negro's  faithfulness  to  his  master  for  gen- 
erations past  and  during  the  war.  Although  the  assertion  was 
true,  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  majority  of  the  whites  desired  to 
see  the  negro  prosperous,  at  least  as  a  laborer,  and  to  be  fully 
protected  in  his  person  and  property,  if  gratitude  was  to  be 
measured  to  him  as  his  faithfulness  had  been  measured  to  his 
former  master.  As  to  their  contentment,  happiness,  and  being 
supplied  with  food  and  clothing,  the  Governor  and  others  may 
have  fed  and  clothed  their  slaves  abundantly,  but  not  enough  so 
as  to  make  them  desirous  of  remaining  slaves  or  to  make  them 
contented.  If  such  was  the  case  it  would  not  have  been  neces- 
sary for  the  Legislature,  anterior  to  the  war,  to  pass  a  law  punish- 
ing white  persons  for  cruelty  to  slaves.  In  fact,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  in  order  to  govern  a  slave  to  punish  him  more  severely 
than  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  law  to  punish  a  freeman.  I 
think  "The  Life  and  Times  of  the  Hon.  Frederick  Douglass"  is 
conclusive  on  this  point.  I  am  confident  if  all  these  slaves  the 
Governor  spoke  of  had  been  called  up  at  that  time  they  would 
have  said  to  him  that  they  felt  quite  happy,  even  while  there  were 
many  who  were  destitute  and  had  no  home  to  go  to.  Yet  most 
of  these  people  were  looked  after  by  their  former  masters, 
as  they  had  never  left  their  premises.  It  was  only  those  who 
had  left  the  premises  of,  or  those  who  had  been  driven  away 
from,  the  places  of  their  former  masters,  who  were  in  danger  of 
suffering.  So  the  Governor  was  right  in  the  abstract,  but  not  in 
the  concrete.  The  following  poem  fully  expresses  the  feelings 
of  the  freedmen  before  and  after  their  liberation.  It  was  written 
and  delivered  by  John  Wallace  at  the  celebration  of  the  seven 


26  CARPKTRAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

teenth  anniversary  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  at  Talla- 
hassee, Florida : 

Freedom,  thou  welcome  spirit  of  Love, 

Whence  and  from  where  didst  thou  begin  ? 
Thou  from  (iod's  bosom  as  a  dove 

Didst  seek  the  earth  to  vanquish  sin. 
Before  the  land  and  skies  were  made 

Thy  spirit  hovered  o'er  the  deep, 
And  when  God  earth's  foundation  laid, 

Did  enter  man  when  yet  asleep. 
As  he  arose  from  dust  to  flesh. 

Near  him  wast  thou  where  e'er  he  went; 
Though  cast  from  Eden's  garden  fresh, 

Thou  wast  with  him  in  sorrow  bent. 
And  still  wast  thou  all  through 

Despotic  ages  past  and  gone. 
And  as  a  brother  e'er  proved  true — 

Thy  light  'mid  darkness  ever  shone. 
When  Pharaoh  Israel's  children  held 

Four  hundred  years  abject,  enslaved. 
To  free  them  Egypt  was  impelled. 

Though  then  was  gained  the  land  they  craved. 

America  thought  thee  to  evade. 

And  to  the  South  her  slaves  she  sold  ; 
But  through  power  she  was  made 

To  yield  to  thee  this  great  stronghold. 
Though  here  was  called  unto  thy  aid 

Grim  war,  the  court  of  last  appeal — 
And  North  and  South  each  other  braved, 

Yet  now  they  both  thy  blessings  feel. 
There  were  four  million  souls  and  more 

Of  Africans  in  slavery  bound, 
'J'hey  sought  thy  crown  'mid  trials  sore. 

Two  hundred  years,  and  then  'twas  found. 
Mankind  has  ne'er  contented  been 

Where  slavery's  cruel  sway  was  held. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  27 

'Twas  giant  Freedom  fought  the  sin 

Till  all  its  darkness  was  dispelled. 
Go  sound  the  trumpet,  ring  the  bell ! 

Just  seventeen  years  ago  to-day 
Sweet  Freedom  wrested  us  from  hell 

And  put  an  end  to  slavery's  sway. 

The  sagacious  Governor,  further  to  prove  that  the  former 
slave  was  happy  and  contented,  "maintained  that  it  took  five 
black  men  to  do  the  same  amount  of  work  that  three  white  men 
could  do,  and  therefore  the  blacks  should  be  protected  against  the 
exactions  of  white  immigrants,  as  such  immigrants  would  expect 
a  black  man  to  do  the  same  amount  of  work  as  a  white  man."  It 
is  certainly  true  that  a  Northern  man — or  what  the  Southerners 
call  a  Yankee — will  work  a  negro  closer,  harder  and  longer  at  a 
time  than  a  Southern  man  will  do,  and  will  give  him  less,  but  as 
a  general  thing  they  will  pay  up  regularly,  of  which  I  shall  have 
more  to  say  in  another  part  of  this  work.  I  know  of  no  rule  or 
reason  to  prevent  a  colored  man  from  doing  the  same  amount  of 
work  that  a  white  man  can  do  if  both  have  the  same  training. 
The  same  fatigue  that  overtakes  the  white  man  at  the  close  of  a 
day's  labor,  will  overtake  the  negro,  even  though  he  is  covered 
with  a  black  skin.  The  only  difference  as  to  how  much  work 
one  man  can  do  more  than  another,  depends  upon  his  skill  and 
his  physical  make-up.  It  rather  looks  as  though  the  Governor 
was  trying  to  show  that  the  former  slave  did  not  work  as  hard 
as  the  Northern  man  did  before  the  war,  and  therefore  slavery 
was  not  a  great  hardship  ;  but  this  will  not  stand  scrutiny. 

While  the  Governor's  recommendations  to  the  Legislature 
were  not  all  that  could  be  desired  by  the  colored  people,  from  a 
political  standpoint,  yet  many  features  of  them  should  forever 
commend  him  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  our  race.  Among 
these  recommendations  were  the  taking  care  of  the  indigent  and 
decrepit  of  the  former  slaves,  encouraging  industry,  virtue  and 
education,  which  are  the  foundation  of  the  up-building  of  any 
people. 

The  convention  which  made  the  constitution  under  which 
this  Legislature  assembled,  had  requested  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernor to  appoint  a  commission  of  three  gentlemen  to  prepare  suit- 


28  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

able  laws  for  the  government  of  the  freedmen,  and  to  report  to 
the  first  Legislature  that  should  assemble.  The  Governor  ap- 
pointed C.  H.  Dupont,  of  Gadsden  County,  A.  J.  Peeler  and 
M.  D.  Papy,  of  Leon.  Two  days  after  the  convening  of  the 
Legislature  this  Committee  made  the  following  report: 

"The  undersigned  were  appointed  by  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernor, under  a  resolution  of  the  recent  State  Convention,  and 
charged  with  the  duty  of  reporting  to  the  General  Assembly 
'  the  changes  and  amendments  to  be  made  to  the  existing  stat- 
utes, and  the  additions  required  thereto,  so  as  to  cause  the  same 
to  conform  to  the  requisitions  of  the  amended  constitution,  and 
with  reference  especially  to  the  altered  condition  of  the  colored 
race.' 

"  First.  In  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  we  are 
deeply  impressed  with  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  task, 
and  regret  that  the  shortness  of  the  time  elapsing  between  the 
date  of  our  appointment  and  the  meeting  of  your  honorable  body 
has  precluded  the  possibility  of  giving  to  the  subject  that  thor- 
ough investigation  which  its  importance  demanded.  Within 
the  brief  space  allotted  to  us,  however,  we  have  endeavored  to 
embody,  in  the  form  of  bills  upon  various  subjects,  some  sug- 
gestions which  we  trust  may  be  found  useful  in  directing  your 
minds  to  such  changes  and  modifications  of  the  existing  statutes 
and  additions  thereto  as  may  be  demanded  by  the  recent  altera- 
tion in  the  civil  relations  heretofore  existing  between  the  two 
races  that  constitute  the  inhabitants  of  the  State.  The  constitu- 
tional provision  declaring  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery,  suddenly 
removed  from  under  the  restraining  and  directing  influence  of 
the  master  nearly  one  full  moiety  of  our  population,  and  creates 
the  necessity  of  bringing  them  more  fully  under  the  operation  of 
municipal  law.  Heretofore  there  existed  in  each  household  a 
tribunal  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  investigation  and  punishment 
of  the  great  majority  of  the  minor  offenses  to  the  commission  of 
which  this  class  of  population  was  addicted.  With  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  institution  o(  negro  slavery  that  tribunal  has  become 
extinct,  and  hence  the  necessity  of  creating  another  in  its  stead, 
and  of  making  such  modifications  in  our  legislation  as  shall  give 
full  efficiency  to  our  criminal  code.  It  is  to  the  organization  of 
such  a  tribunal,  as  of  first  importance,  that  we  now  desire  to  in- 
vite your  attention.  It  must  be  manifest  to  every  reflecting  mind 
that  the  Circuit  Court,  as  at  present  organized,  extending  as  it 
does  its  jurisdiction  over  a  large  area  of  territory,  embracing  a 
dozen  or  more  counties,  and  confined  to  the  holding  of  stated 
terms,  however  efficient  heretofore  in  the  restraining  of  crime,  is 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  29 

but  illy  adapted  to  the  present  exigency.  In  view  of  the  great 
increase  of  minor  offenses  which  may  be  reasonably  anticipated 
from  the  emancipation  of  the  former  slaves,  a  wise  forecast  would 
seem  to  call  imperatively  for  the  erection  of  a  criminal  tribunal 
more  local  in  its  jurisdiction  and  of  greater  promptness  in  its 
administration  of  the  penalties  of  the  law.  Such,  eventually, 
was  the  design  of  the  recent  convention  in  extending  the  judicial 
power  so  as  to  embrace  *  such  other  courts  as  the  General  Assem- 
bly may  establish.'  The  constitutional  provision  grantmg  this 
power  to  the  General  Assembly  is  as  follows,  to-wit :  'The  ju- 
dicial power  of  this  State,  both  as  to  matters  of  law  and  equity, 
shall  be  vested  in  a  Supreme  Court,  Courts  of  Chancery,  Circuit 
Courts  and  Justices  of  the  Peace ;  provided,  the  General  Assembly 
may  vest  such  civil  or  criminal  jurisdiction  as  may  be  necessary 
in  Corporation  Courts  and  such  other  courts  as  the  General  As- 
sembly may  establish ;  but  such  jurisdiction  shall  not  extend  to 
capital  cases.'  With  all  the  reflection  that  we  have  been  able  to 
bestow  upon  the  subj'ect,  and  aided  by  the  light  drawn  from  the 
legislation  of  other  States,  we  have,  nevertheless,  found  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  devise  any  plan  of  organization  for  the  pro- 
posed courts  which  is  entirely  free  from  objection.  We  present, 
however,  with  great  deference,  for  your  consideration  and  action 
thereon,  a  bill  entitled  *  An  Act  to  establish  and  organize  a 
County  Criminal  Court,'  which  we  think  will  be  found,  upon 
examination,  to  be  as  free  from  objection  and  as  well  adapted  to 
the  exigency  growing  out  of  the  new  order  of  things  as  can  well 
be  devised. 

"  Second.  The  next  subject  that  claimed  the  attention  of  the 
Commission  was  the  present  state  of  our  criminal  laws  as  appli- 
cable to  the  two  different  races  that  constitute  the  population  of 
the  State.  By  reference  to  the  statute  book,  it  will  be  found 
that  in  most  of  the  minor  offenses,  and  a  few  of  the  more  aggra- 
vated, a  marked  distinction  is  made  between  white  persons  and 
free  negroes  and  slaves  with  regard  to  the  commission  of  these 
offenses.  After  the  maturest  reflection  upon  the  subject,  we 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  wise  policy  would  dictate 
that,  with  a  very  few  exceptional  cases,  this  discrimination  be 
abolished,  as  far  as  it  may  be  done  without  impairing  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  prescribed  penalties,  and  that  both  races  be  sub- 
jected to  the  same  code.  In  making  this  reconnmendation,  the 
undersigned  would  not  be  understood  as  favoring  the  idea  that 
there  exists,  either  in  the  Federal  Constitution  or  in  that  of 
the  State,  any  inhibition  to  control  the  authority  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  making  such  discrimination,  whenever  the  welfare 
of  society  or  the  safety  of  the  community  may  demand  it.  This 
authority,  however,  is  not  to  be  exercised  beyond  the  granting 
or  restricting  of  what  is  usually  denominated  mere  '  privileges,' 


50  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

in  contradistinction  to  the  absolute  'rights'  of  individuals.  The 
enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  person  and  property,  together  with 
means  of  redress,  is,  by  our  amended  Constitution,  guaranteed 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  without  distinction  of  color, 
and  may  not  be  invaded  by  the  legislation  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. With  this  limitation,  the  power  to  discriminate  between 
the  two  races  has  always  been  exercised  without  stint  by  the  re- 
spective States  of  the  Union,  not  even  excepting  those  of  New 
England.  Their  statute  books  are  replete  with  enactments  con- 
firmatory of  the  truth  of  this  statement,  nor  is  there  any  lack  of 
judicial  evidence  on  the  point.  In  1833  Connecticut  passed  a 
law  which  made  it  a  penal  offense  to  set  up  or  establish  any 
school  in  that  State  for  the  instruction  of  persons  of  the  African 
race,  not  being  inhabitants  of  the  State,  or  to  instruct  or  teach 
in  any  school  or  institution,  or  board  or  harbor  for  that  purpose, 
any  such  person,  without  the  previous  consent  in  writing  of  the 
civil  authority  of  the  town  in  which  such  school  or  institution 
might  be  located.  A  case  arose  under  this  law,  in  which  one  of 
the  points  raised  in  defense  was  that  the  law  was  a  violation  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  guarantees  '  that 
the  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and 
immunities  of  citizens  of  the  several  States. '  (Vide  Crandall  vs. 
the  State,  10  Conn.,  Rep.  346.)  In  Kentucky  the  point  has 
been  repeatedly  decided  the  same  way ;  nor  are  we  aware  that 
its  correctness  has  ever  been  judicially  questioned  in  any  State 
of  the  Union.  Chancellor  Kent,  whose  accuracy  and  research 
no  one  will  question,  states  emphatically  that  in  no  part  of  the 
country,  except  Maine,  did  the  African  race  in  point  of  fact  par- 
ticipate equally  with  the  whites  in  the  exercise  of  civil  and  po- 
litical rights.  (2  Kent's  Com.,  258,  Note  b.)  But  the  right  to 
exercise  the  power  of  discrimination  does  not  rest  alone  upon 
the  action  of  the  States ;  it  has,  time  and  again,  been  sanctioned 
by  every  department  of  the  Federal  Government.  In  its  legisla- 
tion for  the  District  of  Columbia  the  Congress  has  never  hesi- 
tated to  recognize  the  difference  that  exists  between  the  two 
races,  both  as  it  regards  their  social  and  political  status. 
Such,  too,  has  been  universally  the  action  of  the  executive  de- 
partment, backed  by  the  official  opinions  of  such  men  as  Wil- 
liam Wirt  and  Caleb  Gushing,  and  endorsed  by  that  giant  of 
constitutional  law,  Daniel  Webster,  while  acting  as  Secretary  of 
State.  Upon  application  to  him  for  letters  of  protection  to  visit 
Europe,  he  refused  to  grant  them,  upon  the  distinctly  stated 
ground  that  the  applicants  were  not  '  citizens '  in  the  meaning 
of  the  word  as  used  in  the  Constitution.  But  if  there  ever  did 
exist  any  doubt  upon  this  subject,  it  ought  forever  to  be  put  at 
rest  by  the  authoritative  decision  in  the  great  case  of  Dred  Scott 
vs.  Sandford,  reported  in  19  Howard,  S.  C.  Rep.,  393.     In  the 


CARPETE5AG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  3 1 

opinion  delivered  in  that  case,  undoubtedly  the  greatest  intel- 
lectual effort  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Taney,  it  is  expressly  held 
that  *a  free  negro  of  the  African  race,  whose  ancestors  were 
brought  to  this  country  and  sold  as  slaves,  is  not  a  citizen  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. '  And  it  is 
strongly  stated  in  the  same  opinion  that  it  is  not  within  the  con- 
stitutional power  of  Congress  to  make  him  such.  In  comment- 
ing upon  the  legislation  of  Congress  with  reference  to  this  race, 
the  Chief  Ju.stice  very  forcibly  and  significantly  remarks  :  '  This 
law,  like  the  laws  of  the  States,  shows  that  this  class  of  persons 
were  governed  by  special  legislation  directed  exclusively  to  them, 
and  always  connected  with  provisions  for  the  government  of 
slaves,  inc  not  with  those  for  the  government  of  white  citizens.' 
And  after  such  a  uniform  course  of  legislation  as  we  have  stated 
by  the  Colonies,  by  the  States  and  by  Congress,  running  through 
a  period  of  more  than  a  century,  it  would  seem  that  to  call  per- 
sons thus  marked  and  stigmatized  '  citizens'  of  the  United  States 
— 'fellow  citizens' — a  constituent  part  of  the  sovereignty,  would 
be  an  abuse  of  terms,  and  not  calculated  to  exalt  the  character 
of  an  American  citizen  in  the  eyes  of  other  nations.  This  adju- 
dication was  rendered  just  four  years  prior  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  late  revolution,  and  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to 
inquire  whether  any  of  the  results  of  that  revolution  can  be  justly 
invoked  to  impair  its  authority  as  a  just  and  enlightened  exposi- 
tion of  the  Constitution.  It  is  true  that  one  of  the  results  was 
the  abolition  of  African  slavery ;  but  it  will  hardly  be  seriously 
argued  that  the  simple  act  of  emancipation  of  itself  worked  any 
change  in  the  social,  legal  or  political  status  of  such  of  the  Afri- 
can race  as  were  already  free.  Nor  will  it  be  insisted,  we  presume, 
that  the  emancipated  slave  technically  denominated  a  '  freedman,' 
occupied  any  higher  position  in  the  scale  of  rights  and  privileges 
than  did  the  'free  negro.'  If  these  inferences  be  correct,  then 
it  results,  as  a  logical  conclusion,  that  all  the  arguments  going 
to  sustain  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  to  discriminate 
in  the  case  of  '  free  negroes '  equally  apply  to  that  of  '  freed- 
men,'  or  emancipated  slaves.  But  it  is  insisted  by  a  certain 
class  of  radical  theorists  that  the  act  of  emancipation  did  not 
stop  in  its  effect  in  merely  severing  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave,  but  that  it  extended  further,  and  so  operated  as  to  exalt 
the  entire  race  and  placed  them  upon  terms  of  perfect  equality 
with  the  white  man.  These  fanatics  may  be  very  sincere  and 
honest  in  their  convictions,  but  the  result  of  the  recent  elections 
in  Connecticut  and  Wisconsin  shows  very  conclusively  that  such 
is  not  the  sentiment  of  a  majority  of  the  so-called  Free  States. 
While  we  thus  strenuously  assert  the  authority  of  the  General 
Assembly  to  exercise  the  power  of  discrimination  within  the 
limit   before   indicated,   we  would   earnestly,   but   respectfully, 


32  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

recommend  that  it  be  exercised  only  in  exceptional  cases,  and  so 
far  as  may  be  necessary  to  promote  the  welfare  of  society  and 
to  insure  the  peace,  good  order  and  quiet  of  the  entire  commu- 
nity. Impressed  with  these  views,  and  in  furtherance  of  this 
end,  we  have  prepared  a  bill  to  accompany  this  report  entitled 
'  An  Act  Prescribing  Additional  Penalties  for  the  Commission 
of  Offences  Against  the  State,  and  for  other  purposes.'  The  first 
section  of  the  bill  provides  '  that  whenever,  in  the  criminal  laws  of 
this  State  heretofore  enacted,  the  punishment  of  the  offense  is  lim- 
ited to  fine  and  imprisonment,  or  to  fine  or  imprisonment,  there 
shall  be  superadded,  as  an  alternative,  the  punishment  of  stand- 
ing in  the  pillory  for  an  hour,  or  whipping,  not  exceeding  thirty- 
nine  stripes  on  the  bare  back,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
jury.'  By  an  examination  of  the  respective  codes,  as  applicable 
to  the  two  classes  of  population,  white  and  black,  it  will  be  found 
that  they  differ  but  little  as  to  the  nature  of  the  offenses  desig- 
nated in  each.  The  great  mark  of  difference  is  to  be  found  in 
the  character  of  the  punishments.  There  seems  always  to  have 
existed  in  the  minds  of  our  legislators  a  repugnance  to  the  inflic- 
tion of  corporeal  punishment  upon  the  white  man,  and  hence 
the  resort  to  fine  and  imprisonment  for  the  punishment  of  of- 
fenses committed  by  him,  while  that  mode  of  punishment  is 
almost  the  only  one  applied  to  the  colored  man  for  the  commis- 
sion of  any  of  the  minor  offenses.  This  discrimination,  we  think, 
is  founded  upon  the  soundest  principles  of  State  policy,  growing 
out  of  the  difference  that  exists  in  the  social  and  political  status 
of  the  two  races.  To  degrade  a  white  man  by  punishment  is  to 
make  a  bad  member  of  society  and  a  dangerous  political  agent. 
To  fine  and  imprison  a  colored  man  in  his  present  pecuniary 
condition,  is  to  punish  the  State  instead  of  the  individual.  The 
provision  contained  in  the  first  section  of  the  proposed  bill  is 
not  designed  to  interfere  with  the  discrimination  above  referred 
to,  but  only  to  give  a  wider  range  to  the  discretion  of  the  jury  in 
applying  the  punishment  to  the  offense.  The  second  section  of 
the  bill  is  deemed  important  to  remedy  a  defect  growing  out  of 
the  extreme  technicality  of  the  common  law  with  reference  to 
the  subject  indicated.  By  the  principles  of  that  law,  if  the  '  sev- 
erance '  from  the  freehold,  and  the  felonious  *  taking  and  carry- 
ing away,'  be  one  and  the  same  continued  act,  it  would  amount 
only  to  a  'trespass,'  for  which  the  injured  party  was  remitted  to 
his  action  for  damages  on  the  civil  side  of  the  court,  but  for 
which  the  perpetrator  of  the  act  could  not  be  criminally  pun- 
ished. In  view  of  the  present  condition  of  things,  we  think  that 
this  rule  of  the  common  law  ought  to  be  altered  as  is  proposed 
to  be  done  by  the  second  section  of  this  bill.  The  twelfth  sec- 
tion restricts  the  privilege  of  the  use  of  firearms  by  colored  per- 
sons to  such  only  as  are  of  an  '  orderly  and  peaceable  character.* 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


33 


The  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  to  impose  this  restric- 
tion is  beyond  doubt.  Neither  the  second  article  of  the  amend- 
ments to  the  Federal  Constitution,  nor  the  first  section  of  the 
sixteenth  article  of  the  State  Constitution,  nor  anything  con- 
tained in  either  of  said  instruments,  can  by  any  fair  interpreta- 
tion be  deemed  to  oppose  any  obstacle  to  the  exercise  of  this 
authority.  A  reference  to  the  legislation  of  the  Northwestern 
States  will  show  that  they  recognize  the  rrght  to  impose  suitable 
restrictions  upon  this  class  of  their  population;  and  the  section 
now  under  consideration  is  almost  a  literal  transcript  of  the  law 
of  Indiana  upon  that  subject.  If  the  restriction  is  deemed  im- 
portant to  the  welfare  of  a  community  in  which  not  one  in  a 
thousand  is  affected  by  it,  how  much  more  important  with  us, 
where  nearly  one  full  moiety  of  the  population  is  of  that  class. 
The  interests  of  the  well  disposed  and  peaceable  colored  man, 
whose  right  it  is  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  honest  industry,  as 
well  as  the  safety  of  the  entire  community,  both  white  and  black, 
imperatively  demands  that  the  privilege  of  bearing  arms  should 
be  accorded  only  to  such  of  the  colored  population  as  can  be 
recommended  for  their  orderly  and  peaceable  character.  It  is 
needless  to  attempt  to  satisfy  the  exactions  of  the  fanatical  the- 
orists. We  have  a  duty  to  perform — the  protection  of  our  wives 
and  children  from  threatened  danger  and  the  prevention  of 
scenes  which  may  cost  the  extinction  of  our  entire  race. 

"  Deeply  impressed  with  the  sense  of  the  obligation  that 
rests  upon  the  white  race,  as  the  governing  class,  to  do  all  that 
may  lie  in  their  power  to  improve  the  moral  condition  of  the  re- 
cently emancipated  slaves,  the  undersigned  most  respectfully 
present  for  your  consideration  '  A  Bill  to  be  entitled  An  Act  to 
Establish  and  Enforce  the  Marriage  Relation  Between  Persons 
of  Color.'  Heretofore,  from  the  very  necessity  of  the  case,  this 
matter  was  left  to  be  regulated  by  the  moral  sense  of  the  master 
and  the  slave,  and  may  in  truth  be  said  to  have  been  the  only 
inherent  evil  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  as  it  existed  in  the 
Southern  States.  Now  that  the  obstacle  of  compulsory  separa- 
tion is  removed,  and,  as  a  Christian  people,  we  should  embrace 
the  earliest  opportunity  to  impress  upon  this  class  of  our  popula- 
tion, and,  if  need  be,  to  enforce  by  appropriate  penalties,  the 
obligation  to  observe  this  first  law  of  civilization  and  morality, 
chastity  and  the  sanctity  of  the  marriage  relation. 

"Next  to  the  enactment  of  laws  for  the  prevention  of 
crime  and  the  enforcement  of  the  domestic  relations,  there  is 
no  subject  so  intimately  connected  with  the  permanent  welfare 
and  prosperity  of  a  people  as  that  of  a  well  regulated  labor  sys- 
tem. Such  a  system  we  recently  enjoyed  under  the  influence  of 
the  benign  but  much  abused  and  greatly  misunderstood,  institu- 
tion of  slavery.     That  has  been  swept  away  in  the  storm  of  rev- 


34  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

olution,  and  we  are  now  remitted  to  the  operation  of  an  untried 
experiment.  Whether  we  shall  he  successful  in  devising  a  plan 
to  make  the  labor  of  the  emancipated  slave  available  is  a  prob- 
lem of  doubtful  solution,  and  one  in  which  he  is  vastly  more  in- 
terested than  is  his  former  master.  This  unfortunate  class  of 
our  population,  but  recently  constituting  the  happiest  and  best 
provided  for  laboring  population  in  the  world,  by  no  act  of  theirs 
or  voluntary  concurrence  of  ours ;  with  no  prior  training  to  pre- 
pare them  for  their  new  responsibilities,  have  been  suddenly  de- 
prived of  the  fostering  care  and  protection  of  their  old  masters, 
and  are  now  to  become,  like  so  many  children  gamboling  upon 
the  brink  of  the  yawning  precipice,  careless  of  the  future  and 
intent  only  on  revelling  in  the  ])resent  unrestricted  enjoyment 
of  the  newly  found  bauble  of  freedom.  Their  condition  is 
truly  pitiable,  and  appeals  to  every  generous  bosom  for  aid  and 
succor,  and  we  have  greatly  mistaken  the  character  of  the 
Southern  people  if  that  appeal  shall  be  made  in  vain.  We  are 
not  responsible  for  this  pitiable  condition  of  the  race,  but  we 
will,  nevertheless,  exert  ourselves  to  save  them  from  the  ruin 
which  inevitably  awaits  them  if  left  to  the  '  tender  mercy '  of 
that  canting  hypocrisy  and  mockish  sentimentality  which  has 
precipitated  them  to  the  realization  of  their  present  condition. 
If  the  effort  to  make  the  emancipated  slave  an  efficient  laborer 
shall  fail,  then,  as  a  last  alternative,  resort  must  be  had  to  the 
teeming  population  of  overcrowded  Europe.  But  let  not  this 
fearful  alternative,  pregnant  as  it  is  with  the  ruin  and  destruc- 
tion of  a  helpless  race,  be  adopted  until  we  shall  have  given 
them  a  fair  and  patient  trial.  As  the  superior  and  governing 
class,  we  are  bound  to  this  by  every  principle  of  right  and 
prompting  of  humanity,  yea,  by  the  obligation  of  gratitude. 
For  where,  in  all  the  records  of  the  past,  does  history  present 
such  an  instance  of  steadfast  devotion,  unwavering  attachment 
and  constancy,  as  was  exhibited  by  the  slaves  of  the  South 
throughout  the  fearful  contest  that  has  just  ended  ?  The  coim- 
try  invaded,  homes  desolated,  the  master  absent  in  the  army  or 
forced  to  seek  safety  in  flight  and  leaves  the  mistress  and  her 
helpless  infants  unprotected ;  with  every  incitement  to  insubor- 
dination and  instigation  to  rapine  and  murder,  no  instance  of  in- 
surrection, and  scarcely  one  of  voluntary  desertion  has  been  re- 
corded. This  constancy  and  faithfulness  on  the  part  of  the  late 
slaves,  while  it  has  astonished  Europe  and  stamped  with  false- 
hood the  ravings  of  the  heartless  abolitionist,  will  forever  com- 
mend them  to  the  kindness  and  forbearance  of  their  former 
masters.  They  will  do  all  in  their  ])ower  to  promote  his  wel- 
fare and  to  encourage  and  secure  his  moral  and  material  improve- 
ment. While  they  confine  him  to  his  appropriate  sphere  of  so- 
cial and  political  inferiority,  they  will  endeavor  to  stimulate  him 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


35' 


to  all  legitimate  efforts  at  advancement,  and  by  the  exercise  of 
kindness  and  justice  towards  him,  teach  him  to  value  and  ap- 
preciate the  new  condition  in  which  he  is  placed.  If,  after  all, 
their  honest  efforts  shall  prove  unavailing,  and  this  four  millions 
of  the  human  family  but  recently  dragged  up  from  barbarism, 
and  through  the  influence  of  Southern  masters  elevated  to  the 
status  of  Christian  men  and  women,  shall  be  doomed  by  the 
inscrutable  behest  of  a  mysterious  Providence  to  follow  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  fast  fading  aborigines  of  this  continent; 
and  when  the  last  man  of  the  race  shall  be  standing  up- 
on the  crumbling  brink  of  a  people's  grave,  it  will  be  some  com- 
pensation to  the  descendants  of  the  Southern  master  to  catch  the 
grateful  and  benignant  recognition  of  this  representative  man, 
as  he  points  his  withered  finger  to  the  author  of  his  ruin  and  ex- 
claims,   '  Thou  didst  it.'  " 

AH  of  the  recommendations  made  by  this  committee,  so  far 
as  enactment  of  laws  were  concerned,  were  acted  upon  and 
passed  into  statutes.  But  the  Legislature  disregarded  the  com- 
mittee's recommendation  as  to  delaying  the  education  of  colored 
children,  and  passed  a  law  taxing  every  colored  male  from  the 
age  of  twenty-one  to  fifty,  five  dollars  for  the  education  of  col- 
ored youth,  and  some  good  schools  were  established  accordingly 
under  the  superintendency  of  Rev.  E.  B.  Duncan,  who  was 
certainly  an  able  and  conscientious  man,  who  worked  hard  to 
establish  colored  schools  in  every  county.  At  that  time  railroad 
facilities  were  very  poor,  and  I  have  known  him  to  walk  from 
county  to  county  in  South  Florida  to  establish  colored  schools. 

It  is  true,  that  some  of  the  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature 
of  1865  seem  to  be  very  diabolical  and  oppressive  to  the  freed- 
men,  but  when  we  consider  the  long  established  institution  of 
slavery,  and  the  danger  to  which  the  Southern  whites  imagined 
they  might  be  subjected  by  reason  of  these  people,  who  had 
always  been  subject  only  to  the  command  of  their  old  masters, 
we  are  of  the  opinion  that  any  other  people,  under  like  circum- 
stances, would  have  passed  the  same  character  of  laws  relative 
to  the  freedmen.  Many  of  these  laws  we  know,  of  our  own 
knowledge,  were  passed  only  to  deter  the  freedman  from  com- 
mitting crime.  For  instance,  the  law  prohibiting  colored  peo- 
ple handling  arms  of  any  kind  without  a  license,  was  a  dead  let- 
ter, except  in  some  cases  where  some  of  the  freedmen  would  go 
around  plantations  hunting,  with  apparently  no  other  occupation, 


36  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

such  a  person  would  be  suspected  of  hunting  something  that  did 
not  belong  to  him  and  his  arms  would  be  taken  away  from  him. 
We  have  often  passed  through  the  streets  of  Tallahassee  with  our 
gun  upon  our  shoulder,  without  a  license,  and  were  never  dis- 
turbed by  any  one  during  the  time  this  law  was  in  force. 

The  law  in  regard  to  contracts  between  the  whites  and 
freedmen  was  taken  advantage  of  by  some  of  the  whites,  and 
the  freedmen  did  not  get  justice ;  but  the  great  majority  of  the 
whites  carried  out  their  contracts  to  the  letter,  and  the  freedmen 
did  as  well  as  could  be  expected  under  the  changed  condition  of 
things.  These  laws  were  taken  advantage  of  by  the  carpet-bag- 
gers to  marshal  the  freedmen  to  their  support  after  the  freedmen 
had  been  given  the  right  to  vote.  We  shall  have  more  to  say  on 
this  subject  in  a  future  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Go7Jernor  Walker's  Short- Lived  Administration.  Conduct  of  White 
Soldiers  Toward  Freedjnen.  The  Freedmen  Electing  a  Con- 
gressman^ as  They  Thought.  Stonelake's  Fraudulent  Land 
Certificate.  The  Freedifian's  Bureau  and  Its  Agents.  The 
Beginning  of^TitlSea^t  Leagiu.  Preparafiotrand  Oath  of 
League.      ' '  The  Loyal  League  of  America. " 

The  administration  of  Governor  Walker,  which  continued 
something  over  two  years,  by  the  existing  mihtary  power,  exer- 
cised under  the  Federal  authority,  and  he  was  often  perplexed 
to  avoid  conflict  while  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  civil  author- 
ity. With  the  Freedman's  Bureau,  charged  with  the  paternal 
care  of  the  freedmen  on  the  one  side,  and  the  United  States 
army  exercising  a  supervisory  control  over  the  general  conduct, 
his  administration  was  little  more  than  a  quasi  civil  government, 
yet  all  was  done  that  was  possible,  within  the  restricted  limits 
prescribed  by  the  Federal  power,  to  maintain  law  and  order. 
The  removal  of  colored  troops  from  the  interior  of  the  State  to 
the  seaboard  did  not  hasten  the  restoration  of  law  and  order,  as 
contemplated  by  the  resolution  passed  by  the  convention  for  that 
purpose.  The  white  soldiery  were  stationed  throughout  the  in- 
terior and  finally  superseded  the  colored  troops,  who  were  en- 
tirely removed  from  the  State.  The  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
regular  army,  many  of  whom  did  not  stand  very  high  in  the  es- 
timation of  our  best  Southern  society,  would  abuse  and  maltreat 
the  negro  much  worse  than  their  former  masters,  who  in  many 
instances  would  have  to  interfere  in  his  behalf,  to  save  him  from 
cruelty  and  mjustice.  Of  course  there  were  honorable  excep- 
tions ;  but  a  majority  of  the  officers  and  men  sent  to  this  State 
to  take  the  place  of  the  colored  troops,  were  unjust  and  some- 
times cruel  in  their  treatment  of  the  freedmen — first  from  innate 
prejudice,  and  second  in  order  to  ingratiate  themselves  with 
their  former  masters,  who  were  naturally  irritated  at  the  loss  of 
their  slaves.  They,  however,  refused  to  countenance  such  con- 
duct on  the  part  of  the  soldiery,  holding  that  however  the  negro 


38  CAKPETBA(;    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

might  rejoice  in  his  freedom,  he  had  done  nothing  dishonorable 
to  obtain  it. 

I  can  recall  but  few  instances  of  brutal  treatment  of  the 
freedmen  by  the  Southern  whites  during  Governor  Walker's  ad- 
ministration. I  was  personally  cognizant  of  one  case  in  the  city 
of  Tallahassee  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1866,  by  the  police, 
under  Francis  Epps,  mayor.  The  mayor  had  enlisted  from 
putside  the  city  a  dozen  of  what  are  generally  termed  "crack- 
ers,"' as  policemen,  '1  hey  were  of  the  class  who  had  never 
owned  a  slave  or  dared  to  interfere  with  one  while  under  the 
protection  of  the  master,  and  they  seemed  to  cherish  an  old 
grudge  against  the  negro.  They  sought  every  opportunity  to 
interfere  in  his  exercise  of  his  freedom,  and  would  order  him  off 
the  streets ;  and  when  two  or  three  were  assembled  in  conversa- 
tion, would  arrest  them  and  beat  them  as  long  as  they  would 
submit.  Under  the  advice  of  some  of  the  more  respectable  of 
the  white  citizens,  a  party  attempted  one  Sunday  night  to  put  a 
stop  to  this  cruelty.  'I'hey  started  around  to  the  colored 
churches  to  summon  the  men  to  run  these  policemen  out  of 
town  or  put  them  to  death.  On  their  way  to  the  churches  they 
were  met  in  the  dark  by  the  city  marshal,  Sam  Quaile,  w^ho  ordered 
them  to  halt.  Thinking  it  was  one  of  these  "cracker"  police- 
men, they  discharged  their  guns  in  the  direction  of  the  voice, 
but  inflicted  no  injury.  The  whites  turned  out  and  preserved 
the  peace,  and  shortly  after  these  "cracker"  policemen  were 
discharged  and  no  further  disturbance  occurred.  So  far  as  the 
city  of  Tallahassee  is  concerned,  the  whites  and  blacks  have 
lived  on  friendly  terms. 

Early  in  1866  it  was  reyK)rted  that  the  freedmen  would  be 
enfranchised,  and  many  of  them  thinking  the  right  had  already 
accrued,  called  a  secret  meeting  for  the  election  of  a  Member 
of  Congress,  The  meeting  was  held  at  the  A,  M,  E,  Church 
in  Tallahassee,  and  Josej^h  Oats,  formerly  a  slave  of  Governor 
Walker,  was  unanimously  elected.  The  next  step  was  to  raise 
money  to  send  the  newly-elected  Congressman  to  Washington. 
The  money  was  forthcoming,  as  plenty  of  old  men  and  women 
gave  their  last  dollar  to  send  one  of  their  race  to  the  National 
Congress.  Stveral  hundred  dollars  were  thus  raised  and  given 
to  Oats,  who    shortly  afterwards    was    "  off  to   Congress."     He 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


39 


remained  away  from  Tallahassee  until  his  money  was  gone, 
when  he  wrote  back  designating  the  time  when  he  would  return. 
The  freedmen  prepared  a  picnic  at  Houstoun's  spring,  about  a 
mile  from  Tallahassee.  Oats  notified  them  that  if  they  desired 
to  know  what  he  had  done  for  them  while  in  Congress,  they 
must  prepare  to  protect  him,  as  the  whites  would  kill  him  when 
tbey  should  learn  what  he  had  accomplished  against  them.  The 
2oth  of  May,  the  day  on  which  General  McCook  rtiarched  his 
troops  into  Tallahassee,  and  declared  all  the  inhabitants  to  be 
free,  was  the  day  set  apart  for  Oats  to  tell  the  freedmen  the  great 
work  he  had  accomplished  in  Congress.  At  nine  o'clock  on  that 
memorable  20th  of  May,  the  drums  commenced  beating  and  the 
freedmen  to  the  number  of  two  or  three  thousand  formed  in 
line  and  marched  to  Oats'  dwelling  and  sent  a  committee  armed 
with  old  cavalry  swords  and  pistols  to  escort  Oats  to  the  place 
of  destination.  He  was  escorted  to  Houstoun's  spring,  when  the 
committee,  at  his  request,  arranged  that  he  should  be  surrounded 
by  the  freedmen  and  the  whites  kept  from  harming  him  or 
hearing  what  he  said.  The  whites,  however,  did  not  know 
what  was  going  on  other  than  a  celebration  and  picnic,  and 
were  not  present.  Oats'  speech  was,  that  he  had  seen  the  Presi- 
dent, and  they  had  true  friends  at  Washington,  etc.  It  was  be- 
lieved, however,  that  Oats  did  not  go  further  than  Savannah, 
where  he  had  a  good  time,  spent  the  freedmens'  money,  and  re- 
turned home.  After  Oats  had  finished  his  story  about  the  Presi- 
dent, and  his  great  labors  in  Congress,  the  crowd  sent  up  their 
huzzas  for  half  an  hour  and  then  sat  down  to  a  sumptuous  din- 
ner. Whisky  was  plentiful  on  the  ground  and  was  freely  im- 
bibed by  the  freedmen.  A  dispute  arose  among  them  as  to  where 
Oats  had  been,  and  the  affair  ended  in  a  general  knock  down 
and  drag  out.  Oats  Avas  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  before  being 
set  free  had  hired  himself  from  his  master ;  could  read  and 
write,  and  was  therefore  capable  of  hoodwinking  the  average 
freedman.  He  was  a  fine  looking  mulatto  whose  mother  was 
said  to  be  white. 

During  the  years  1865-67  there  was  much  speculation  among 
the  freedmen  as  to  what  the  government  intended  to  do  for  them 
in  regard  to  farms  ;  and  as  most  of  them  had  to  work  for  a  por- 
tion of  the  crop,  it   induced   them  to  seek  homes  of  their  own. 


40  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

One  Stonelake,  United  States  Land  Register  at  Tallahassee, 
appointed  soon  after  the  surrender,  knowing  this  fact,  and  tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  the  freedmen,  issued  to  them 
thousands  of  land  certificates  purporting  to  convey  thousands 
of  acres  of  land.  For  each  certificate  the  freedman  was  re- 
quired to  pay  not  less  than  five  dollars,  and  as  much  more  as 
Stonelake  could  extort  from  the  more  ignorant.  He  induced  the 
most  influential  to  make  the  first  purchases,  and,  it  was  generally 
believed,  gave  them  a  portion  of  his  fees  to  secure  purchasers. 
The  former  masters  warned  our  people  against  this  fraud,  but 
as  Stonelake  was  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  paternal  gov- 
ernment, he  was  supposed  by  the  freedmen  to  be  incapable  of 
fraud  or  deception.  Many  of  them  were  led  to  believe  that 
these  lands  consisted  of  their  former  masters'  plantations,  and 
that  the  certificates  alone  would  oust  the  latter  from  possession. 
After  showing  the  certificates  around  among  his  neighbors  and 
exulting  over  the  purchase  of  a  plantation,  he  would  eventually 
show  it  to  his  former  master,  who  would  explain  the  fraud,  when 
he  would  rush  back  to  Stonelake  for  his  money,  who  would 
invent  some  new  deception  to  quiet  him,  and  explain  that  upon 
further  examination  of  his  books  he  found  the  lands  were  located 
further  south.  These  explanations  did  not  fully  satisfy  the 
freedmen,  and  they  called  a  meeting  and  appointed  several  of 
their  number  to  go  down  south  and  spy  out  the  Promised  Land. 
This  committee  expended  the  money  raised  by  their  confiding 
friends,  and  after  an  absence  of  several  weeks  in  a  pretended  sur- 
vey, reported  that  they  .saw  some  good  lands,  as  well  as  bad, 
and  advised  the  freedmen  to  occupy  them,  but  as  they  were  un- 
able to  locate  the  Promised  Land,  their  advice  was  not  followed, 
and  the  victims  were  left  to  vent  their  curses  upon  the  swindler, 
Stonelake. 

The  Freedman's  Bureau,  an  institution  devised  by  Congress 
under  the  influence  of  the  very  best  people  of  the  Northern 
States,  and  intended  as  a  means  of  protection  of  the  freedmen, 
and  preparing  them  for  the  new  responsibilities  and  privileges 
conferred,  in  the  hands  of  bad  men  proved,  instead  of  a  bless- 
ing, to  be  the  worst  curse  of  the  race,  as  under  it  he  was  mi.sled, 
debased  and  betrayed.  The  agents  of  this  Bureau  were  stationed 
in  all   the  cities  and   principal  towns  in    the  State.     They  over- 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  4I 

ruled   the  local    authorities  with   the  arbitrary  force  of  military 
power.     Before  it  was  definitely  known  that  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  could  confer  the  right  of  suffrage  upon  the  negro 
the   great  majority  of  the  agents   were  more  oppressive    of  the 
freedmen  than  the  local  authorities,  their  former  masters.     The 
State  having  been  impoverished  by  the  war,  the  national  govern- 
ment, realizing    the  condition  of  the   people,   and  especially  of 
the    freedmen,    who  were  set  free  with  nothing  but  the  scant 
clothing  on    their   backs,  sent  provisions  to   the  State  to  be  dis- 
tributed to   such   of  the   freedmen  as    were    struggling,  without 
means    of  subsistence,  to   make   a  crop.     This  meat  and  flour 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  these  agents  for  distribution,  who  ap- 
propriated it  at  their  discretion,  and  frequently  more  largely  for 
their  own  benefit  than  that  of  their  wards.      The  Commissioner 
of  the  Bureau  for  the  State,  in  company  with    a    retired  army 
officer,  carried  on  a  large,  plantation   on  the  Apalachicola,  until 
General  Steadman  was  appointed  to  examine  and  report  upon 
the  condition  of  the  Bureau  affairs,  when,  in  anticipation  of  his 
visit  to  the   State  his   interest  was  suddenly  transferred  to  his 
partner,  who,  after  gathering    and  disposing  of  the  cotton  crop 
and  all  available    stock    on  the  place,  gathered  himself  up  and 
left    without    paying    the  rents.     M.    L.   Stearns,  a  subordinate 
agent  at  Quincy,  was  publicly  charged  with  the  wholesale  dis- 
position of  pork  and  flour,  and  evidence  was  produced  to  con- 
vict him    of  receiving  and  attempting  to   force  collection   of  a 
mortgage  for  $750  received  in  payment  for  provisions;    but  the 
officers   of    the   Federal  Court   refused    to    entertain    the  case. 
When  he  subsequently  ran  as  the  RepubUcan  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor in  1878,  he  was  publicly  denounced   in  the   newspapers 
and  from  the  stump  for  having  sold  the   freedmen's  supplies  to 
white  farmers   for  his  own    benefit.      His   refusal  to  meet   the 
charge  lost  him  the  support   of  the  leading  Republicans  and  a 
large  class   of  the  freedmen,  so   that  with    the  entire   control  of 
the  poHtical  machinery  through  the  appointing  power  as  acting 
Governor,  he  was  defeated,  while  the  State  at  the  previous  elec- 
tion, under    Governor  Reed's  administration,  with  a  weak  and 
unpopular    ticket,    had  been    carried  by  over  three    thousand 
Republican   majority.     It  was  not  a   little  remarkable  that  the 
Presidential   ticket,    ran    several    hundred   ahead   of    the  State 


42  CARPF.TBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

ticket,  and  while  Stearns  was  counted  out  Hayes   was  counted 
in. 

As  soon  as  the  freedmen  were  enfranchised  they  began  to 
receive  better  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Bureau  agents, 
'llie  contracts  between  them  and  the  planters,  which  had  here- 
tofore been  interpreted  against  them,  were  now  more  fairly  con. 
strued  in  their  interest.  This  latter  action  of  Congress,  too,  was 
the  gateway  to  the  formation  of  the  secret  league  of  the  freed- 
men. 

Thomas  W.  Osborn,  the  Commissioner  of  the  Bureau  for 
Florida,  stationed  at  Tallahassee,  through  his  servant,  a  freed- 
man,  requested  a  meeting  of  three  or  four  of  the  most  influential 
colored  men  at  the  house  of  a  colored  man  whose  name  1  do 
not  care  to  mention.  He  met  them  there  and  informed  them 
that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  goyej;nment  that  they  shoirra~^form 
a  secret  league  to  prevent  their  being  again  returned  to  slavery. 
This  was  sufficient  to  bring  out  the  old  and  young,  the  hatt  and 
the  blind.  In  order  to  deceive  and  allay  any  apprehension  in 
regard  to  the  purpose  of  the  gathering,  they  were  instructed  to 
answer  any  questions  by  saying  that  the  assembly  Avas  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  benevolent  society.  At  the  appointed 
time  several  hundred  freedmen  assembled,  but  only  seventy-five 
or  eighty  were  initiated  the  first  night,  as  it  was  deemed  wise  to 
impress  them  with  an  air  of  deep  solemnity  and  great  formality. 

In  order  to  work  the  negro  with  greater  facility  in  the  inter- 
est of  Osborn  and  his  gang,  this  secret  league  was  named  the 
Lincoln  Brotherhood,  and  T.  W.  Osborn  made  himself  its  presi- 
dent, and  he  became  the  grand  head-centre  of  all  the  leagues 
and  subordinate  lodges  subsequently  formed  throughout  the 
country  and  State.  Each  member  had  to  pay  an  initiation  fee 
of  from  one  to  two  dollars,  and  fifty  cents  per  month  thereafter. 
The  subordinate  lodges  were  organized  by  a  deputy  appointed 
by  the  president,  T.  W.  Osborn.  They  were  required  to  pay 
five  or  six  dollars  for  their  charter,  which  money  went  to  swell 
the  revenue  of  the  parent  lodge  at  Tallahassee,  or  of  its  grand 
chief.  The  lodge  at  Tallahassee  became  so  large  that  it  became 
necessary  to  remove  from  the  private  house  where  it  was  first  or- 
ganized to  the  lower  colored  Baptist  church,  in  a  part  of  the 
town  seldom  visited  by  the  whites.     The   freedmen  considered 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  43 

this  league  a  great  thing,  and  their  meetings  at  the  church  were 
carefully  guarded  by  armed  sentinels,  who  halted  any  one  who 
came  into  the  vicinity  of  the   church,  requiring  the  countersign 
under   penalty  of  the  contents   of  the  old  musket.     Auxiliary 
lodges  were  formed  in  every  part  of  the  county  and  throughout 
the  State.     The  regular  meetings  of  these  lodges  were  held  every 
Thursday  night,  in  the  most  secret  places  to  be  secured.     One 
.who.  was  ignorant  of  the  purposes  of  these  assemblies  would  be 
Jed  to  believe  that  the  freedmen  were  preparing  to  massacre  all 
the  white  inhabitants  of  the  country.     The  rattling  of  the  swords 
and  handling  of  the  muskets  seemed  to  be  the  pride  of  these  men. 
Many  of  them  believed  that  the  joining  of  the  league  made  them 
.brothers  of  the  martyred  Lincoln.     The   entrance  to  the  lodge 
.;was  protected  by  a  double  guard,  called  the  inner  and  the  outer 
sentinels.      Whenever    candidates    for  admission   appeared    the 
outer  guard  would  have  to    vouch  for  their    not  being    spies 
by  giving  two  raps  at  the   door.     These  were  answered  by  the 
inner  guard  in  like  manner.     The  outer  guard  would  then  report 
the  number  present  desirous  of  becoming  members,  and  that  he 
faithfully  vouched  for  them.     The  inner  guard  would  report  to 
the  President,  who  would  order  them  to  be  conducted  in,  which 
was  done  by  two  persons  called  the  Tylers  of  the  Altar.     These 
Tylers  would  lead  the  applicants  in  front  of  the  altar,  standing 
about  two  paces  from   the   President's  stand.     Over  the  altar 
would  be  fixed  two  United  States  flags,  hoisted  in  such  manner 
as  to  reveal  the  full  number  of  stripes  and  stars ;  three  swords 
..would  be  laid   across  the  altar  in  an  eciuilateral  triangle,  with  a 
•Bible  in  the  centre.     The  candidates  would  be  presented  to  the 
President  by  one  of  the  Tylers;  the  President  would  salutetl^em  ^' 
with   the   following  words:   "Brethren,   what   seek  ye?"     The 
Tylers  would  instruct  them  to  respond—"  Freedom  and  Equal- 
ity."    Then  the  President  would  say :   "Signify  your  request  by 
humbly  kneeling  at  this  altar."     He  would  then   descend  from 
his  stand  and  take  his  seat  in  front  of  the  applicants  at  the  altar, 
who  were  required  to  place  their  hands  upon  the  Bible,  when  he 
would  read  the  oath  and  require  them  to  repeat   after  him  as 
follows : 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  that  1  will  protect  and   defend  the 
Constitution  and   government  of  the  United   States  against  all 


44  CARPETBAC,    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

enemies,  foreign  and  domestic ;  that  I  will  bear  true  faith,  loyalty 
and  allegiance  to  the  same  ;  that  I  will  go  the  rescue  of  a  brother 
whenever  I  learn  he  is  in  trouble ;  that  I  will  not  vote  for  or 
assist,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  person  for  any  office  who  is  not 
a  brother  of  this  league." 

Later  on,  when  the  leading  members  of  the  Brotherhood 
learned  that  their  secret  work  had  been  exposed  by  some  of  the 
more  ignorant  members,  a  new  scheme  was  devised  by  O. 
Morgan,  one  of  Osborn's  representatives,  to  put  an  end  to  this 
exposure.  A  coffin  was  procured,  a  grave  was  robbed  of  some 
of  its  hidden  treasures,  and  the  skull  of  a  man  was  brought  forth 
to  do  the  work.  They  now  commenced  holding  their  meetings 
in  one  of  the  basement  rooms  of  the  Capitol.  The  coffin  would 
be  hid  away  in  the  room  with  an  old  piece  of  canvas  thrown 
over  it  to  conceal  it  from  view.  The  applicant  would  be  brought 
in  and  made  to  take  the  usual  oath,  with  the  formalities  before 
recited.  The  lights  in  the  room  would  then  be  suddenly  put 
out  and  the  Tylers  of  the  Altar  would  quietly  place  the  coffin 
in  front  of  the  applicants ;  the  skull  would  be  placed  on  the  top 
of  the  coffin  in  the  middle  of  the  triangle  formed  by  the  swords ; 
the  lights  would  be  restored  and  the  applicant  told  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  lodge  that  this  skull  was  that  of  a  brother  who  had 
been  recreant  to  his  trust,  had  broken  his  oath  and  exposed  the 
secrets  of  this  league ;  that  he  had  been  found  out  by  the  breth- 
ren and  put  to  death,  and  that  such  would  be  the  fate  of  every 
one  who  ever  exposed  the  secrets  of  the  order.  I  do  not  think 
the  coftin  initiation  ever  went  further  than  the  towns,  as  it  was 
thought  it  could  not  be  carried  on  in  the  country  without  the 
whites  finding  it  out.  Some  of  those  who  were  initiated  with  the 
coffin  were  frightened  so  much  that  they  never  returned,  and 
they  advised  their  friends  not  to  join  the  lodge  in  Tallahassee, for 
fear  of  being  killed.  So  the  Morgan  plan  was  not  very  success- 
ful. This  coffin  and  skull  were  found  in  tlie  basement  of  the 
Capitol  after  the  Democrats  captured  the  State  from  the  Repub- 
licans in  1876. 

In  May  or  June,  1867,  the  Republican  National  Committee 
sent  to  Florida  William  M.  Saunders,  colored,  from  Maryland, 
Daniel  Richards,  white,  from  Sterling,  111.,  a^  speakers  and 
organizers  of  the   Republican    party,    as    they   claimed.     They 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  45 

immediately  joined  in  the  hunt  for  plunder,  and  soon  struck  the 
trail  of  and  came  in  contact  with  the  preceding  plunder  hunters 
— Osborn  and  his  Bureau  agents,  with  the  thousands  of  their 
Lincoln   Brotherhood.     How   to  circumvent  this  brotherhood, 
now  so  firmly  established  across  their  pathway,  was  a  problem 
for  grave  consideration.     Saunders,  Richards  and  Liberty  Bill- 
ings, a  former  lieutenant-colonel  of  a  colored  regiment  in  the 
Union  army  and  now  located  at  Fernandina,  held  a  consultation 
at  Tallahassee,  and  with  all  the  solemnity  of  a  Methodist  prayer 
meeting  finally  resolved  to  supplant  the  Lincoln  Brotherhood  by 
a  new  secret  organization  styled  *'  The  Loyal  League  of  Amer- 
ica."    Here  commenced  the  "tug  of  war"  which  subsequently 
culminated  in  two  Republican  factions  in  the  State.     Thus  the 
*'  Union    League,"  an    institution    formed   and    organized   in 
November,  1862,   in  the  city  of  Cleveland,   Ohio,   and  which 
shortly  after  numbered  its  millions  of  membership,  some  of  whom 
were  in  the  rebel  States  and  had  the  confidence  of  some  of  the 
warmest  supporters  of  the  Southern    Confederacy,   was  prosti- 
tuted to  the  forging  of  chains  upon  the  souls  of  the  confiding 
freedmen.     Before  they  could  be  recognized  as  Republicans  by 
Saunders,  Richards  and  BilHngs,  the  freedmen  were  required  to 
join  the  Loyal  League  of  America.     A  new  application  had  to 
be  made,  another  five  dollars  initiation  fee  paid,  with  a  monthly 
due  of  not  less  than  ten  cents,  or  whatever  the  President  should 
require.     In  the  Grand  Council  at  Tallahassee,  or  at  the  office 
of  Richards  and  Saunders,  whenever  an   influential  freedman 
applied  for  initiation,  and  they  thought  he  could  raise  the  money, 
they  would  charge  him  fifteen  or  twenty  dollars  to  become  a 
member  of  the  league.     Charters  for  the  organization  of  lodges 
cost  five  dollars,  and  whenever  the  deputies  could  succeed  in 
wringing  it  out  of  the  people,  they  would  charge  them  a  greater 
sum.     These  fees  were  divided  with  the  President  of  the  League 
in  Tallahassee,  William  M.  Saunders,  who  constituted  himself 
the  Grand  Council ;  and  whenever  he  could  make  the  deputies 
come  up  with  the  cash  he  would  pocket  the  money.     Grips, 
signs  and  passwords  were  given  to  the  freedmen  in  these  lodges, 
and  they  were  told  that  they  had  received  something  beyond  the 
reach  and  conception  of  their  former  masters,  which  led  them  to 
believe  their  late  masters  had  no  rights  that  they  were  bound  to 


46  CARPETBAG    RUI.K    IN    FLORIDA. 

respect.  I'his  nefarious  teaching  made  many  of  them  very 
obnoxious  and  overbearing  members  of  society.  Thousands  of 
dollars  were  wrung  from  the  hands  of  our  people  by  these 
devices.  They  were  assured  in  these  league  meetings  that  the 
lands  and  all  the  property  of  their  former  masters  would  be 
equally  divided  among  the  former  slaves,  which  led  many  to 
indolence.  They  were  further  instructed  that  the  oath  which 
they  had  taken  in  the  League  was  of  such  a  nature  that  they 
could  not  vote  for  any  Southern  white  man  for  office ;  that  to 
do  so  would  cause  their  return  into  slavery.  To  rivet  these 
teachings  upon  their  consciences,  violent  speeches  would  be 
made  in  the  lodge-rooms,  and  often  in  public,  in  denunciation  of 
their  former  masters,  who,  in  turn,  had  their  hands  full  to 
explain  and  satisfy  our  misguided  people,  the  best  they  could, 
that  the  men  who  were  organizing  them  in  secret  lodges  were 
mere  demagogues  for  the  sake  of  office  and  their  worst  enemies. 
This  argument  set  some  of  our  people  to  thinking,  and  but  for 
this  and  the  influence  of  the  more  sensible  of  the  colored  people, 
the  property  of  the  country  would  have  in  many  instances  been 
destroyed  by  the  midnight  torch.  Although  Saunders,  Richards 
and  Billings  and  their  henchmen  who  organized  the  Loyal 
League  were  not  altogether  successful  in  putting  to  political 
death  Osborn  and  his  Bureau  agents,  yet  their  fight  for  the  spoils 
had  a  great  tendency  to  cripple  them  for  life  in  many  parts  of 
the  State.  The  whites  at  this  time  had  become  alarmed  at  these 
secret  meetings  and  began  to  bestir  themselves  to  find  out  the 
full  secret  of  this  league.  Their  first  step  was  to  get  the  negro 
into  a  good  humor  by  delivering  to  him  what  he  considered  a 
fine  present.  If  any  whisky  or  brandy  was  about  the  white  man 
would  drop  one  or  two  drams  into  him,  which  would  be  the 
means  of  drawing  him  into  conversation  the  more  easily  concern- 
ing the  league.  He  would  then  start  out  by  shaking  hands  with 
the  freedman,  telling  him  at  the  same  time  that  this  (placing 
his  fingers  into  some  curious  form)  is  the  secret  grip  of  the 
league.  This  would  please  the  freedman  so  well,  to  think  that 
he  knew  something  that  the  former  master  did  not  know,  that 
he  would  undertake  to  instruct  him  as  to  the  right  grip,  if  he 
could  recollect  it.  He  felt  grand  at  the  idea  that  he  was  capable 
of  teaching  his  former  master   something.      Many  of  the'grips, 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  47 

passwords  and  signs  were  exposed  in  this  way;  but  the  whites 
were  yet  kept  in  the  dark  as  to  the  real  intentions  of  the  league. 
So  insecure  did  the  whites  consider  their  lives  and  property  that 
some  of  them  were  constrained  to  make  application  to  become 
members  of  the  league  ;  but  this  was  refused.  One  gentleman, 
a  wealthy  planter  in  Leon  County,  to  my  personal  knowledge 
made  application  to  J.  W.  Toer,  Esq.,  colored  (who  was  a  very 
good  and  polite  old  gentleman),  and  was  admitted ;  but  the 
freedmen  were  told  to  watch  him — that  he  was  only  a  spy,  and 
old  man  lo^^r  ^^'as  after  that  time  looked  upon  by  them  as 
a  traitor.  'his  gentleman  lived  in  a  settlement  where  nine- 
tenths  of  the  population  were  colored,  and  all  of  them  were 
members  of  tlie  league.  He  does  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  he 
was  forced. to  join  this  league  to  save  his  property  from  destruc- 
tion. There  is  no  disputing  the  fact  that  the  fears  of  the  whites 
with  reference  to  these  leagues  were  well  founded ;  for  the  men 
who  controlled  them  had  really  nothing  in  view  but  public  plun- 
der. Notwithstanding  the  oath  that  had  been  taken  by  the 
freedmen  as  membersi  of  the  Loyal  League,  and  the  violent 
speeches  with  promises  made  by  its  leaders  to  them,  there  was  a 
sectional  and  natural  feeling  existing  among  most  of  them  which 
was  a  resistless  leaning  toward  those  with  whom  they  were  better 
acquainted — their  late  masters.  In  1867,  some  few  months 
before  the  nomination  of  delegates  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1868,  the  freedmen  called  a  public  meeting  in  the  court- 
house in  Leon  County,  and  invited  M.  D.  Papy,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  lawyers  in  the  State,  Judge  Mcintosh,  and 
other  Southerners,  to  address  them  and  give  them  some  informa- 
tion as  to  their  newly  acquired  duties  as  citizens.  Those  gentle- 
men and  others  attended  the  meeting  and  addressed  the  colored 
people.  The  meeting  was  largely  attended  and  the  addresses 
were  well  received;  but  Osborn  and  the  rest  of  the  plunder- 
hunters  kicked  furiously  against  this  revolutionary  movement  on  the 
part  of  the  freedmen,  while  most  of  the  whites  looked  upon  the  action 
of  Papy  and  Mcintosh  as  giving  countenance  to  Osborn,  Saunders 
and  other  carpetbaggers.  If  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  blacks  and 
whites  had  not  been  ihterfered  with  the  State  would  have>  saved 
thousands  of  dollars.  The  freedmen  in  other  parts  of  the  State 
would  have  heard  with  gladness  of  the  action  of  their  former  mas- 


48  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

ters  at  the  capital.  They  would  have  broken  the  chains  of  the 
league  and  looked  up  to  those  slaveholders  of  the  State  who  had 
not  in  the  days  of  slavery  treated  them  cruelly.  They  felt  confi- 
dent that  their  rights  would  be  absolutely  secure  in  the  hands  of 
those  men  under  the  reconstruction  acts  of  Congress.  As  a  close 
observer  of  the  times,  and  as  one  of  the  actors  in  the  reconstruction 
theatre,  I  am  certain,  if  the  Southern  whites  could  have  taken  in 
the  situation,  two-thirds  of  them  would  have  been  returned  as 
delegates  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1868.  This  result 
would  have  enlisted  two-thirds  of  the  best  white  citizens  of 
Florida  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party.  But  "to  err  is 
human."  From  this  time  up  to  the  election  of  delegates  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1886  no  further  alliance  was 
attempted  between  the  whites  and  the  freedmen.  The  whites, 
discouraged  at  the  solidity  of  the  freedmen  against  them,  refused 
to  take  any  part  in  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  convention. 
The  two  so-called  Republican  factions — one  termed  the  Osborn 
Faction  and  the  other  The  Mule  Team  (having  acquired  this 
name  by  the  reason  of  Billings  and  Saunders  using  two  mules  to 
haul  them  around  while  perfecting  their  electioneering  schemes), 
had  everything  their  own  way,  with  the  military  to  back  them. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Electmi  of  Delegates  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1868. 
Address  of  D.  Richards,  the  First  President.  The  Loyal 
League  Overthrows  the  Lincoln  Brotherhood.  Notable  Mem- 
bers of  the  Convention.  The  Richards  Constitution.  Re-cap- 
ture of  Convention.  Minority  of  Non-resident  Delegates. 
The  Lincoln  Brotherhood  Ahead,  and  the  Loyal  Leaguers 
Rampant.  Ratification  of  the  Constitution  and  Election  of 
Go7jernor  Reed. 

Under  militaty  authority  the  State  was  divided  into  nine- 
teen election  districts,  which  were  so  arranged  as  to  have  the 
counties  where  the  white  population  predominated  attached  to 
the  counties  having  large  colored  majorities.  There  was  but  one 
polling  place  in  each  county,  which  necessitated  the  continuing 
the  election  for  three  days.  The  election  was  held  on  the  14th, 
15th  and  1 6th  of  November,  1867,  under  the  formal  supervison 
of  the  miHtary.  The  question  submitted  was,  For  a  Conven- 
tion, or,  Against  a  Convention ;  and  for  delagetes  to  the  con- 
vention in  case  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  were  for  the  Constitu- 
tion. Twenty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-two 
registered  voters  were  returned  by  the  registermg  officers,  of 
whom  fourteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  three  were  returned 
as  having  voted  for  a  Constitution.  All  the  districts  returned 
delegates,  and  a  full  convention,  forty-six  in  number,  were 
elected.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  delegates,  as  returned  by 
military  general  orders  No.  no  : 

First  District — Escambia  and  Santa  Rosa  Counties — Geo. 
W.  Walker,  Geo.  J.  Alden,  Lyman  W.  Rowley. 

Second  District — Walton,  Washington  and  Holmes — John 
L.  Campbell. 

Third  District — Jackson — W.  J.  Purman,  L.  C.  Armistead, 
E.  Fortune,  H.  Bryan. 

Fourth  District—  Gadsen  and  Liberty — D.  Richards,  W.  U. 

Sanders,  Frederick  Hill. 

Fifth  District-— Fxdinklm-^].  W.  Childs. 
4 


5©  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Sixth  District — Leon — T.  W.  Osborn,  Joseph  E.  Oats,  C. 
H.  Pearce,  John  Wyatt,   Green  Davidson,  O.  B.  Armstrong. 

Seventh  District— ]Qf(er son — John  W.  Powell,  A.  G.  Bass, 
Robert  Meacham,  Anthony  Mills. 

Eighth  District — Madison — Roland  T.  Rambauer,  Major 
Johnson,  William  R.  Cone. 

Ninth  District — Suwannee— Thomas  Urquhart,  Andrew 
Shuler. 

Tenth   District — Lafayette  and  Taylor — J.  R.  Krimminger. 

Eleventh  District — Alachua — Horatio  Jenkins,  Jr.,  William 
K.  Cessna,  Josiah  T.  Walls. 

Twelfth  District — Columbia— ^S.  B.  Conover,  Abram  Erwin. 

Thirteenth  District— C\diy—B.  M.  McRae. 

Fourteenth  District — Duval  and  Nassau — L.  Billings,  N. 
C.  Dennett,  William  Bradwell,  J.  C.  Gibbs. 

Fifteenth  District— Udiuow—] .  H.  Goss,  A.  Chandler,  W. 
Rogers,  E.  D.  House. 

Sixteenth  Z>/V/r/r/— Hernando— Samuel  J.  Pearce. 

Seventee7ith  District — Hillsborough — C.  R.  Mobley. 

Eighteenth  District — Monroe — Eldridge  L.  Ware. 

The  convention  met  on  Monday,  January  20th,  1868,  C. 
H.  Pearce,  colored,  of  Tallahassee,  was  elected  temporary  Presi- 
dent, and  H.  Ford,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  also  colored,  was  elected 
temporary  Secretary,  amid  the  shouts  of  hundreds  of  the  newly 
enfranchised  freedmen,  who  declared  ''the  bottom  rail  on  top," 
and  "  the  year  of  jubilee  am  come."  There  were  but  twenty  of 
the  forty-six  delegates  present.  The  following  Committee  on 
Permanent  Organization  was  appointed :  Wm.  M.  Saunders,  of 
Baltimore,  chairman ;  Wm.  R.  Cone,  S.  B.  Conover,  Robert 
Meacham  and  O.  B.  Armstrong.  This  committee  immediately 
reported — 

I.  For  President,  D.  Richards,  of  Sterling,  111.,  returned 
from  Gadsden  County  (where  he  had  spent  but  two  days  of  his 
life)  and  W.  H.  Christy,  of  Jacksonville,  for  Secretary,  with 
three  assistants ;  a  Chaplain,  Sergeant-at-Arms,  Postmaster, 
three  doorkeepers  and  one  financial  agent — Paul  Crippen,  a 
stranger  in  the  State. 


CARPETBACx    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  5 1 

2.  Ten  committee  clerks,  of  whom  Paul  Crippen  was  one, 
and  Henry  Ford,  the  Postmaster,  was  another. 

3.  Nine  pages  and  messengers. 

The  first  section  of  the  report  was  adopted,  but  as  there 
was  some  objection  to  the  others  the  appointments  were  devolved 
upon  the  President,  who  subsequently  appointed  the  list  recom- 
mended by  the  committee.  The  President-elect  took  the  chair, 
and  addressed  the  Convention  as  follows : 

richards'  address. 

* 'Gentlemen  of  the  Convention: 

"For  your  kindness  and  partiality  in  electing  me  to  preside 
over  your  deliberations,  you  have  my  sincere,  heartfelt  thanks. 
That  the  duties  thus  devolved -upon  me  may  be  so  discharged  as 
to  satisfy  you  that  I  am  not  entirely  unworthy  of  this  generous 
confidence,  is  now  my  greatest  solicitude.  From  a  sense  of  my 
own  wetkness,  I  have  hesitated  about  whether  I  should  accept 
this  position  of  such  high  honor  and  trust ;  but  relying  on  your 
charity,  forbearance,  and  aid,  I  enter  upon  the  performance  of 
the  duties  with  a  prayer  that  the  relations  of  friendship  that  now 
bind  us  together  may  continue  to  be  the  most  cordial,  and  that 
our  proceedings  may  be  characterized  by  that  spirit  of  kindness 
and  generosity  which  the  great  events  standing  so  close  around 
us  should  inspire.  Ours  is  the  opportunity  and  privilege  of  ele- 
vating and  benefiting  humanity  by  forming  for  a  whole  State  a 
fundamental  law  that  should  tend  to  promote  patriotism,  perma- 
nent peace  and  enduring  prosperity  with  all  our  people.  The 
age  in  which  we  live,  generations  that  are  to  come  after  us,  and 
the  stern,  uncompromising  historian,  will  hold  us  to  a  rigid 
account  for  the  manner  in  which  we  dispose  of  the  great  trust 
con  fided  to  us  by  an  afflicted,  unfortunate  people.  Permanent 
rules  for  the  guidance  of  all  in  the  development  of  the  great 
resources  of  our  State,  and  that  are  to  control  all  the  functions 
of  government,  are  to  be  established  by  us,  and  may  we  heed 
the  voice  of  humanity,  and  may  a  merciful  Providence  aid  us  in 
our  counsels  and  direct  us  in  our  conclusions.  With  the  mantle 
of  charity  we  would  cover  the  moral  heresies,  monstrous  injus- 
tice and  red-handed  cruelty  of  the  past,  and  with  malice  toward 
none  and  charity  for  all,  and  '  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives 
us  light,'  let  us  enter  upon  the  majestic  work  of  laying  deep  the 
foundations  of  a  government  that  shall  sacredly  care  for  and 
protect  the  rights  of  all,  and  that  shall  deserve  and  receive  the 
respect,  love  and  confidence  of  all  our  citizens.  Let  no  recol- 
lections of  the  bondage  that  was  so  long  the  withering  disgrace 


52  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

of  American  civilization  be  impressed  upon  the  Constitution  we 
are  about  to  form.  Let  it  be  not  tinged  with  the  blood-stains  of 
a  wicked  rebellion  and  terrible  war  by  presenting  features  of 
resentment,  retaliation  or  revenge ;  but  let  it  contain  some  cau- 
tious, jealous  provisions  that  shall  forever  hereafter  vigilantly 
guard,  as  with  a  two-edged  sword,  all  approaches  to  the  Temple 
of  Liberty,  Justice  and  Equal  Rights  to  all;  and  it  will  stand  as 
a  proud  monument  to  the  wisdom  of  our  times,  and  to  the  tri- 
umph of  the  principles  of  freedom  and  truth  and  a  progressive 
humanity,  over  oppression,  error,  superstition  and  barbarism. 
Let  us  insure  to  all  who  have  not  forfeited  their  rights  by  treason 
or  rebellion  a  common  interest  in  our  institutions,  our  laws  and 
our  government  by  religiously  securing  to  them  the  right  to  vote 
and  be  voted  for ;  and  the  consciousness  that  we  are  each  a  part 
of  the  government  will  soon  induce  a  feeling  of  self-respect, 
manhood  and  pride  in  maintaining  law  and  order  and  good  gov- 
ernment in  society.  We  should  provide  for  a  system  by  which 
all  may  obtain  homes  of  their  own  and  a  comfortable  living,  and 
also  provide  for  schools  in  which  all  may  be  educated  free  of 
expense ;  clothe  honest  industry  with  respectability ;  inangurate 
a  public  sentiment  that  shall  crown  the  man  with  honors  as  the 
benefactor  of  his  race  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass  grow 
where  one  grew  before,  and  prohibit  all  laws  that  are  not  equal 
and  just  to  all  within  our  State.  And  from  out  of  the  ashes  of 
discord  and  strife,  will  arise  the  songs  of  gladness,  thanksgiving 
and  praise.  Then  the  earth  will  respond  to  the  gentle  touch 
of  scientific  culture  in  bountiful  harvests;  the  Land  of 
Flowers  will  become  the  land  of  patriotism,  peace  and  plenty ; 
the  hot  wrath  of  wicked  men  will  be  restrained  in  their 
amazement  at  the  great  and  wonderful  transformation,  and  Flor- 
ida will  keep  step  to  the  grand  music  of  the  Union,  and  move 
forward  in  her  career  of  glory  as  one  of  the  States,  and  God  in 
his  infinite  goodness  will  bless  us  in  our  basket  and  our  store." 

General  Meade  was  notified  of  the  organization,  and  being 
invited  to  attend,  sent  the  following  telegram  : 

"  I  regret  that  my  public  duties  prevent  my  complying  with 
your  invitation  to  visit  your  convention.  I  have  no  communi- 
cation to  make  beyond  calling  your  attention  to  the  remarks 
made  to  the  Georgia  Convention,  and  urging  prompt  action 
upon  your  part  in  the  important  duty  assigned  to  you,  and  the 
earnest  hope  that  you  will  speedily  form  a  constitution  and  frame 
a  civil  government  acceptable  to  the  people  of  Florida  and  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States." 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  53 

The  Loyal  League,  headed  by  Richards,  Billings  and  Saun- 
ders, all  non-residents,  had  so  far  supplanted  the  Lincoln  Broth- 
erhood which  Osborn  had  instituted,  that  it  was  only  through 
the  permission  and  courtesy  of  Elder  C.  H.  Pearce,  who  held  the 
colored  vote  of  Leon  County  under  control,  that  he  was  elected 
to  the  convention ;  and  he  was  so  tardy  and  cowardly  in  his 
movements  that  he  had  allowed  the  opposition  to  seize  the  or- 
ganization of  the  convention  before  he  could  gather  in  his  ad- 
herents, Richards  was  therefore  master  of  the  situation  before 
Osborn  had  awaked  to  the  fact  that  he  was  no  longer  dictator  to 
the  freedmen.  But  the  representative  from  Illinois  was  not 
equal  to  the  task  he  had  assumed,  and  the  insane  greed  for 
spoils  soon  lost  him  and  his  associates  their  hold.  BiUings  and 
Saunders  had  the  Loyal  Leaguers,  and  William  J.  Purman  was 
the  accepted  champion  of  the  Lincoln  Brotherhood. 

The  first  effort  of  President  Richards  was  to  get  control  of 
the  small  sum  in  the  State  Treasury,  for  which  purpose  he  gave  an 
order  upon  the  State  Treasurer  to  pay  over  to   Paul  Crippen  all 
money  in  his  hands  belonging  to  the  State.     The  Treasurer,  be- 
fore responding  to  the  order  telegraphed  General  Meade,  who 
immediately  forbade  any  payment  upon  the  requisition  of  the 
President  of  the  convention  without  his  special  approval  of  each 
requisition.     The  five  hundred  dollars  then  in  the  Treasury  was 
thus  saved    to  meet  the   salaries   of  the   existing  State    officers. 
These  non-resident  plunderers  then  determined  to  go  directly  to 
the  property  owners  for  their  plunder,  and  by  resolution  of  the 
convention  President  Richards  and  financial  agent  Crippen  were 
authorized  to  issue  script  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
Fifteen  thousand  was  immediately  issued  on  account  of  printing 
alone,  and  Col.  W.  M.  Saunders  retained  ten  thousand  of  the 
amount.     The  pay  of  pages  and    messengers  was   fixed  at  ten 
dollars  per  day,  and  that  of  clerks  and  other  officers  from  fifteen 
^'^wenty  dollars  per  day.     As  another  illustration  of  the  reck- 
^^^"\isregard   of  interests   of    the   State,  J.  T.  Walls,  delegate 
^^^'^   -\achua  County,  about  three   hundred  miles  distant,  was 
allowea,^^^.   O.  B.  Armstrong,  whose  home  was    at  the  capi- 
tal, $630^^^^^^  jyj    Saunders,  delegate  from  Gadsden  County, 
twenty  mile..^^^^^^  ^^^^  .   ^    jj-^^  ^^.^^  ^^^  ^^^^  district,  with 
the  same  dist.^^  ^^^^_  ^^^^  Wyatt,  from  the  same  district  as 

\ 


54  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Armstrong,  with  thirty-five  miles  to  travel,  $467.  There  were 
large  amounts  of  script  accredited  to  members  and  attaches  of  the 
convention  who  never  saw  a  dollar  of  it ;  but  the  script  was 
issued  and  retained  by  Paul  Crippen  and  his  co-conspirators. 

At  the  time  this  script  was  issued  the  convention  was  sitting 
with  a  bare  majority  of  the  delegates  returned  as  elected  in  atten- 
dance. As  the  convention  filled  up  the  struggle  for  supremacy 
waxed  hoi  between  the  contending  parties,  and  two  weeks  were 
wasted  in  the  contest.  Crowds  of  freedmen  from  the  country 
would  daily  assemble  around  the  capitol,  and  whenever  Saunders 
and  Billings  were  tired  of  scalping  Purman  and  Osborn  in  the 
convention,  they  would  address  the  freedmen  in  mass  meeting  in 
front  of  the  capitol,  relating  to  them  that  Purman,  Osborn  and 
their  followers  had  gone  over  to  the  red-handed  rebels,  charac- 
terizing them  as  Lucifer  and  his  rebellious  angels  disturbing  and 
making  war  in  Heaven,  while  the  speakers  described  themselves 
as  leading  the  Heavenly  hosts  and  fighting  to  hurl  the  rebellious 
angels  from  the  temple.  The  masses  were  thus  kept  excited  in 
order  to  secure  an  influence  over  the  colored  delegates,  who 
were  quartered  among  the  blacks,  nine-tenths  of  whom  adhered 
to  the  Billings  faction.  It  would  not  have  been  safe  for  any  of 
the  delegates  to  have  gone  over  to  Purman.  Many  of  the  Dem- 
ocrats had  been  inclined  to  favor  the  Richards-Billings  faction 
rather  than  that  of  Osborn,  until  the  system  of  plunder  was 
developed,  when  they  became  alarmed  and  gave  their  influence, 
with  the  military  authorities,  to  prevent  their  success. 

The   Billings-Saunders  delegates  were  quartered  in  a  house 

under  their  control,  which  was  characterized  by  Purman  in  debate 

as  the  Ball  Pen.     Saunders,  in   retort  for  thus   stigmatizing  his 

residence,  would  seize  a  chair  to  hurl  at  his  head  and  this  would 

require  the  interference  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms.     Saunders  was 

an  eloquent  and  powerful  speaker,  good  at  repartee,  an  excelle" 

parliamentarian    and    one    of    the    shrewdest    and     most    ' 

scrupulous  members   of  the   convention.     Richards  waf=- 

impassioned  and    more   mild    speaker — a  sort   of   U\  !         ^ 

specimen  of  the  Northern  carpet-bagger,  of  moderat  '      7 
;      .  .  T  u    r-  r  AT     •       r>     ^y»  a  South- 

elastic  conscience.     Jesse  H.  Goss,  of  Marion  Cc        , 

-     ...  .J      •£    ,     •  1     V     ivir        .lion,  but  hon- 

erner  by  birth,  was  identified  with  the  Billings  ^    ,       . 

.  ,       '  .       .  .  .       ^      ^-ct  the   interests 

est,  upright  and  conscientious  in  seeking  to  p" 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  •       55 

of  the  State  and  preserve  the  rights  of  the  freedmen.  C.  R. 
Mobley,  of  Tampa,  a  Kansas  refugee  ''border  ruffian,"  identi- 
fied himself  with  the  Osborn  faction  ;  was  a  fair  debater  and 
opposed  the  extravagance  of  the  Richards  party.  Jonathan  C. 
Gibbs,  colored,  who  was  afterwards  Secretary  of  State  under 
Governor  Reed,  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  under 
Governor  Hart,  was  the  best  educated  delegate  in  the  conven- 
tion, as  well  as  the  most  conservative  and  polished  speaker.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College.  He  adhered  to  the 
Billings  faction,  but  labored  hard  and  honestly  to  secure  a  con- 
stitution that  should  protect  the  property  of  the  State  as  well  as 
the  rights  of  the  freedmen.  More  than  once  he  arose  in  the 
convention  and  denounced  Billings  of  his  own  faction,  who 
would  wait  until  the  lobby  of  the  convention  would  be  filled 
with  freedmen,  and  make  that  the  opportunity  for  delivering  a 
fiery  speech  in  denunciation  of  the  former  slaveholders.  Al- 
though Mr.  Gibbs  was,  through  circumstances,  inseparably 
allied  to  the  Billings-Saunders  faction,  he  was  unqualifiedly 
opposed  to  the  manner  in  which  the  convention  started  out  in 
the  extravagant  expenditure  of  the  people's  money.  Mr.  Gibbs 
was  not  a  politician,  but  an  honest  Republican,  trying  to  lay  the 
foundation  for  a  respectable  party  in  the  State,  and  if  the  mass 
of  the  voters  that  composed  the  RepubHcan  party  of  Florida  had 
possessed  the  intelligence  to  have  followed  his  advice,  the  State 
would  have  been  spared  a  great  deal  of  bitterness  between  its 
black  and  white  citizens,  and  some  precious  lives  would  have 
been  preserved.  E.  Fortune,  colored,  identified  with  the 
Osborn-Purman  faction,  a  native  of  Florida,  had  a  fair  educa- 
tion and  was  a  forcible  debater ;  and  whenever  he  believed  he 
was  right,  neither  money  nor  promises  could  move  him  from  his 
position.  He  opposed  from  first  to  last  the  conduct  of  the  Bil- 
lings-Saunders faction,  and  but  for  his  unalterable  opposition  as 
one  of  the  colored  delegates,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Purman- 
Osborn  faction  would  have  succeeded.  W.  J.  Purman,  a  full- 
fledged  Northern  carpet-bagger,  who  was  believed  by  many  to  be 
an  officer  in  the  United  States  army  at  the  time  he  was  perform- 
ing his  duties  as  delegate,  was  a  very  persuasive  and  forcible 
speaker,  but  was  not  a  match  for  Saunders.  Purman  was  pos- 
sessed  of   an  indomitable    will,  which  in   most    cases  crowned 


56  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

him  with  success.  Although  in  this  fight  he  pretended  to  be 
opposed  to  the  plunder  system,  his  subsequent  actions  in  the 
politics  of  the  State  showed  him  to  be  more  unscrupulous  and 
dangerous  than  Saunders,  Billings  or  Richards.  T.  W.  Osborn, 
also  a  carpet-bagger  of  the  Purman  type,  was  a  man  of  consider- 
able ability,  but  was  no  debater,  and  devoid  of  moral  courage  as 
of  conscience.  He  was  a  good  wire-puller,  and  that  is  the  most 
that  can  be  said  of  him.  Col.  Liberty  Billings,  who  was  a  pro- 
fessed carpet-bagger,  was  at  the  time  of  his  election  a  citizen  of 
the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  a  man  of  powerful  in- 
tellect, but  his  oratorical  powers  seemed  to  have  been  hid  under 
a  bushel,  except  when  he  was  arraying  the  blacks  against  the 
whites.  In  fact,  he  never  laughed  or  smiled,  nor  did  he  seem 
to  be  in  his  right  element  unless  he  was  criticising  in  the  most 
abusive  language,  the  Southern  whites.  As  to  his  financial  pol- 
icy in  the  convention,  it  was  on  the  order  of  "  hold  what  you 
have  got  and  get  all  you  can."  Horatio  Jenkins  was  a  Northern 
0nan,  an  officer  in  the  Union  army.  He  had  fine  abilities,  was  a 
young  man  of  fine  personal  character  and  popular  address. 
Had  he  but  had  the  courage  to  follow  his  own  convictions  instead 
of  surrendering  to  the  dictation  of  Osborn,  he  would  have  risen 
to  high  position  in  the  State ;  but  Osborn  led  him  to  ruin,  and  in 
after  years  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  State  in  poverty  and 
disgrace,  one  of  the  many  victims  of  Osborn's  vicious  ambition. 
I  shall  record  him  better  in  a  future  chapter.  Some  of  the  lesser 
lights  of  the  convention,  who  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
would  be  seen  with  both  feet  thrown  across  their  desks  smoking 
cigars,  while  the  convention  was  in  session,  and  would  often 
address  the  President:  ''I  ize  to  a  pint  off  orter  and  deman 
that  the  pages  and  mess'gers  put  some  jinal  on  my  des."  The 
President  would  draw  a  long  sigh  and  order  journals  to  be  car- 
ried and  laid  upon  the  desks  of  these  eminent  statesmen,  who 
would  seize  them  up  and  go  through  the  motions  of  reading  them, 
perhaps  upside  down,  saying  at  the  same  time  :  "I  has  not  had 
a  jinal  to  read  for  free  or  fo'  days."  The  pages,  indignant  at 
this  mockery,  would  exclaim  to  the  President  "  that  the  dela- 
gates  who  called  for  the  journals  could  not  read  them  if  printed 
in  letters  as  large  as  the  capitol."  The  modest  President  would 
order  them  to  take  their  places  and  attend  upon  the  gentlemen  o' 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  57 

the  convention.     Most  of  the  pages  of   the  convention    could 
read  and  write. 

If  the  convention,  as  then  constituted,  had  been  held  in  any 
of  the  New  England  States  and  had  been  guilty  of  the  same 
conduct,  nothing  but  a  strong  military  guard  could  have  secured 
their  persons  from  violence.  These  ridiculous  scenes  continued 
for  two  weeks  and  more,  when  a  portion  of  the  members  seceded, 
leaving  the  convention  without  a  quorum.  The  sessions  were 
continued,  however,  and  in  a  few  days  adopted  a  constitution, 
which  was  said  to  have  been  prepared  in  Chicago  and  brought 
here  by  Richards  to  be  forced  upon  the  people  of  the  State. 
{See  Appendix  A.) 

Goss,  the  delegate  from  Marion  County,  was  despatched 
with  a  copy  of  this  constitution  to  Atlanta  to  procure  the 
approval  of  the  commanding  General. 

The  convention  took  a  recess  February  8th,  to  wait  the 
return  of  its  messenger.  During  this  time,  Saunders  and  Bil- 
lings, elated  and  more  exultant  over  their  supposed  victory  over 
Purman,  Osborn  and  Company,  called  a  mass  meeting  to  assem- 
ble in  the  capitol  square  and  addressed  the  freedmen,  telling 
them  that  they  had  hurled  the  rebeUious  angels  from  the  great 
Republican  temple.  After  the  speaking  was  over  Saunders 
resolved  the  meeting  into  a  nominating  convention  for  the  pur- 
pose of  nominating  State  officers  and  also  for  members  of  the 
Legislature  for  Leon  County.  Liberty  Billings  was  nominated* 
for  Governor,  W.  M.  Saunders  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
Samuel  Walker,  for  Congress.  Leon  County  was  allowed  in 
this  deal  ten  Representatives  and  one  Senator.  This  appor- 
tionment does  not  appear  in  the  Billings-Saunders  constitution. 
In  fact,  all  the  officers  of  State  were  nominated  by  the  mass 
meeting  composed  entirely  of  the  Freedmen  of  Leon  County. 
It  looked  as  though  there  was  office  for  all. 

On  Monday,  February  loth,  between  twelve  and  one 
o'clock  at  night,  the  seceding  delegates,  or  "rebellious  angels," 
returned  to  Tallahassee  in  a  body,  broke  into  the  capitol,  recap- 
tured the  "  celestial  palace,"  and  proceeded  to  reorganize  the 
convention.  The  most  amusing  incident  of  the  recapture  of  the 
convention  was,  that  Saunders,  although  nominated  for  Lieuten- 


58  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

ant-Governor,  was  not  satisfied  to  be  on  the  tail  of  the  ticket, 
Billings  must  come  down  from  the  head  of  the  ticket  and  give 
place  to  Saunders.  How  to  steer  clear  of  the  Billings  breakers 
was  a  problem  which  quite  puzzled  his  brain — but  something 
must  be  done.  As  white  and  black  masons  did  not  affiliate  at 
that  time  in  the  South,  Saunders  conceived  the  idea  of  organiz- 
ing a  colored  lodge,  and  getting  all  the  prominent  colored  men 
into  it  and  then  pledge  them  to  demand  the  withdrawal  of 
Billings  as  a  candidate  for  Governor,  while  Saunders  would 
pledge  him  his  support  for  United  States  Senator.  This  was 
commenced  on  Monday  night,  February  loth.  Several  mem- 
bers had  been  initiated  that  night.  Billings,  filled  with  anxiety 
to  know  what  was  going  on  in  the  black  camp,  applied  for  ad- 
mission and  was  refused.  A  disruption  in  the  Billings-Saunders 
faction  was  now  imminent.  The  lodge  adjourned  about  midnight 
to  meet  the  following  night  to  complete  its  work.  As  its  mem- 
bers entered  the  street  they  saw  the  capitol  lighted  up,  heard  the 
sound  of  voices,  the  earnest  stamping  of  feet  and  clapping  of 
hands.  They  were  awe-stricken,  and  conveyed  the  intelligence 
to  Saunders,  who,  startled  at  the  scene,  broke  out  with  an  oath 
that  **  Billings,  the  d — d  traitor,  has  organized  a  convention 
against  me  and  my  friends."  Saunders  immediately  sent  mes- 
sengers to  the  capitol  to  see  what  this  strange  thing  really  meant. 
When  the  messengers  returned  and  informed  him  what  had  taken 
place,  he  said  that  his  old  familiar  enemies  were  only  holding  a 
secret  caucus.  But  ''the  end  was  not  yet."  The  eighteen  del- 
egates who  withdrew  had  now  enlisted  four  new  recruits  to  their 
standard,  which  swelled  their  number  to  twenty-tANX).  They  man- 
aged by  some  means  to  capture  two  of  the  colored  delegates 
from  the  Billings-Saunders  faction,  which  gave  them  a  majority 
of  two  of  all  the  delegates  returned  under  general  order  No. 
no.  The  freedmen  undertook  to  mob  these  two  delegates  in 
the  streets  the  next  day,  which  resulted  in  one  of  the  delegates 
named  Shaler  shooting  one  of  the  freedmen,  but  not  fatally. 

This  convention  now  proceeded  to  vacate  the  seats  of  the 
non-resident  delegates— Roberts,  Saunders  and  Billings — elected 
Horatio  Jenkins,  Jr.,  President,  Sherman  Conant,  Secretary, 
and  other  necessary  officers,  and  immediately  set  to  work  to 
form  the  constitution  which  was  finally  ado})ted  and  became  the 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  59 

organic  law  of  the  State.  A  squad  of  the  Federal  military, 
under  direction  of  Governor  Walker,  was  directed  to  guard  the 
convention  chamber  against  a  threatened  attempt  of  the  ousted 
members  to  take  violent  possession.  The  freedmen  seeing  their 
supposed  Lord  and  Saviour  shut  out  from  the  capitol  were 
excited  to  fever  heat.  The  news  went  like  wildfire  through  the 
adjoining  counties.  Large  numbers  of  them  assembled  in  Tal- 
lahassee, ready,  as  they  thought,  for  battle.  Each  one  had  his 
club,  about  two  feet  long  with  a  string  through  the  end  of  it,  so 
as  to  be  fastened  to  his  wrist.  Their  cry  was  that  they  wanted 
nothing  but  the  blood  of  Osborn  and  Purman  and  their  fellows. 
Nothing  but  the  presence  of  the  military  prevented  bloodshed. 
Some  of  the  more  ignorant  of  the  freedmen  were  so  carried 
away  with  Billings  and  Saunders  that  they  wanted  to  attack  the 
military  guard  at  the  door  of  the  convention  and  attempt  to 
drive  them  away  and  give  Saunders  and  Billings  possession  of 
the  hall.  When  it  was  definitely  ascertained  that  Billings  and 
Saunders  could  not  get  possession  of  the  hall,  some  of  the  freed- 
men, who  had  said  when  the  convention  was  first  organized, 
"that  the  bottom  rail  was  on  top,"  began  to  mutter  and  to 
say  that  "  the  rail  had  again  fallen  to  the  bottom."  General 
Mead,  who  had  been  appealed  to  by  the  minority  faction,  arrived 
in  Tallahassee  on  the  17th  day  of  February.  Committees  from 
each  faction  waited  on  him  to  learn  his  views  on  the  situation. 
He  finally  ordered  that  all  the  delegates  returned  under  the 
order  of  General  Pope  should  go  into  the  convention  ;  the  two 
contending  Presidents  to  hand  in  their  resignations  to  the  Secre- 
tary, Sherman  Conant,  and  the  convention  then  reorganize,  de 
novo,  with  the  commanding  General  of  the  Division,  General 
Sprague,  presiding.  This  proposition  was  readily  accepted  by 
]enkins,'|but  Richards  hesitated,  as  he  saw  in  this  action  his  polit- 
ical death  staring  him  in  the  face.  He  finally  consented  under 
protest,  and  with  palsied  hand  he  wrote  his  resignation.  On 
Tuesday,  February  i8th,  at  3  o'clock,  p.  m.,  the  convention 
met  with  all  the  delegates  of  both  factions  present.  The  Secre- 
tary, Conant,  introduced  to  the  convention  Col.  John  T. 
Sprague,  in  full  uniform,  as  its  temporary  chairman.  A  motion 
was  then  made  that  Horatio  Jenkins,  Jr.,  be  elected  President  of 
the  convention,  which   was  carried  by  a  vote  of   thirty-two  to 


6o  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

thirteen.  Colonel  Sprague  then  retired.  The  next  step  was  a 
resolution  declaring  all  the  offices  of  the  first  convention  vacant, 
but  Sherman  Conant  was  retained  as  the  Secretary  of  this  con- 
vention. This  convention  was  not  so  liberal  as  the  first  in  mak- 
ing offices  for  its  followers.  Its  offices  consisted  of  one  secre- 
tary and  an  assistant  secretary,  one  sergeant-at-arms,  one  door- 
keeper, one  chaplain,  a  printer  and  a  financial  agent.  There 
was  a  marked  difference  in  the  last  convention  as  to  decorum. 
Osborn  and  "  the  Brotherhood"  having  overcome  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Loyal  League  by  recapturing  the  convention,  were 
determined  to  pursue  them  to  their  death  for  future  contingen- 
cies. To  expel  them  from  the  convention  would  have  the  effect 
of  killing  their  influence  with  the  freedmen,  and  it  was  willed 
that  they  should  go.  Purman  was  appointed  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  EUgibility,  and  the  day  after  the  last  convention 
was  organized,  made  a  report  which  was  generally  believed  he 
had  carried  in  his  pocket  from  the  time  he  entered  the  conven- 
tion until  he  reported  it,  which  was  as  follows  : 

**In  the  case  of  W.  M.  Saunders,  returned  as  a  delegate 
to  this  convention  from  the  Fourth  Election  District,  conclusive 
evidence  is  adduced  that  he  is  not  a  registered  voter  in  nor  an 
inhabitant  of  the  district  he  claims. to  represent;  that  he  is  no 
citizen  of  Florida  under  the  reconstruction  laws. 

"  In  the  case  of  Liberty  Billings,  returned  from  the  Four- 
teenth Election  District,  evidence  is  produced  under  the  seal  of 
the  United  States  Court,  that  he,  on  the  12th  day  of  August, 
1867,  in  this  State  made  oath  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  the  official  certificate  of  the  Board  of 
Registration  is  in  proof  that  he  is  not  a  registered  voter  in  the 
district  he  claims  to  represent. 

''In  the  case  of  C.  H.  Pearce,  returned  from  the  Sixth 
Election  District,  the  official  certificate  of  the  Board  of  Regis- 
tration is  in  evidence  that  he  is  not  a  registered  voter  in  the  dis- 
trict that  he  claims  to  rei)resent,  that  he  was  formerly  a  resident 
of  Canada;  that  he  there  swore  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  the 
government  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Your  committee,  in  conclusion,  beg  leave  to  recommend 
the  following  resolution  as  the  result  and  conviction  of  their 
unbiased  investigation,  uninfluenced  by  any  sentiment  or  preju- 
dice, either  of  a  political  or  personal  character. 

Resolved,  That  W.  M.  Saunders,  Liberty  Billings  and  C.  H. 
Pearce,  returned  as  delegates  to  this  convention  from  the  Fourth, 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  6l 

Fourteenth  and  Sixth  Election  Districts,  respectively,  are  hereby, 
for  reasons  stated  in  the  foregoing  report,  declared  ineligible  to 
seats  in  this  body." 

In  the  case  of  Daniel  Richards,  from  the  Fourth  Election 
District,  the  Committee  reported  that  he  was  not  an  inhaj)itant 
nor  registered  voter  of  the  district  which  he  claimed  to  repre- 
sent, and  ineligible  to  a  seat  in  the  convention.  These  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  this  ended  the  Bil- 
lings-Saunders reign   in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1868. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  minutes  of  this  convention,  that  its 
journal  was  not  kept  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  coming  gen- 
erations to  know  what  had  transpired  throughout  the  whole  pro- 
ceedings. The  following  resolution  is  introduced  as  a  witness  to 
the  insufficiency  of  the  journal.     It  was  ofl'ered  by  Mr.  Alden: 

Resolved,  That  the  Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  the  State  of  Florida,  from  its  organization  until  the 
third  day  of  February,  be  recognized  as  the  only  Journal  of  the 
Convention  to  that  date.  Thereafter,  that  all  the  proceedings 
of  this  convention,  except  the  meeting  and  adjournment  of  the 
convention,  be  expunged  from  the  journal  until  the  i8th  of 
February,  3  p.  m.,  from  which  time  the  journal  shall  be  resumed 
and  kept  complete."  (See  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  the  State  of  Florida,  page  48). 

T.  W.  Osborn  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted  under  suspension  of  the  rules  : 

"Whereas,  It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  con- 
vention that  D.  S.  Walker,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida, 
having  his  executive  office  in  the  capitol,  and  by  virtue  of  his 
office  as  Governor,  being  in  charge  of  the  capitol  and  all  the 
rooms  therein,  has  in  no  manner  been  consulted  or  his  assent 
asked  by  any  officer  or  member  of  the  convention  for  the  use  of 
the  Assembly  chamber  or  any  other  room  in  which  to  hold  this 
convention,  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  we,  as  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  the 
State  of  Florida,  sincerely  regret  that  so  great  a  discourtesy  has 
been  shown  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  by  this  convention 
and  by  its  former  officers ;  and  further  that  we  request  the  Presi- 
dent of  this  convention  to  wait  upon  Governor  Walker  and  state 
to  him  the  circumstances  in  the  case,  and  ask  the  use  of  this 
room  in  which  to  hold  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  the 
State  of  Florida." 


62  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Osborn  offered  another  resolution,  under  suspension  of  the 
rules,  that  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  be  instructed  to  inquire  of  Gov- 
ernor Walker  the  amount  of  wood  that  had  been  usedjby  the 
convention,  which  wood  had  been  purchased  by  the  officers  of 
the  capitol,  and  used  by  the  convention  without  consent  from 
the  Governor. 

Although  Osborn  and  Company,  prior  to  the  assembling  of 
the  convention,  had  been  marshaling  the  freedmen  against  any 
respect  for  or  recognition  of  the  Walker  administration,  it  seems 
that  the  struggle  with  the  Billings-Saunders  faction  in  the  con- 
vention had  resulted  in  making  Osborn  a  special  convert  and 
forced  him  to  at  least  a  temporary  membership  of  the  Govern- 
or's political  church;  but  Walker  rather  doubted  the  sincerity  of 
the  convert,  and  he  never  thereafter  informed  the  deacons  or 
other  members  of  the  congregation  of  this  most  sudden  and 
remarkable  conversion  of  this  Saul  of  Tarsus. 

The  convention,  as  soon  as  it  was  organized,  commenced 
reading  a  constitution  which  had  been  agreed  upon  by  Osborn 
and  Company,  some  time  and  at  some  place  which  are  not  defi- 
nitely known,  but  was  generally  believed  to  have  been  made  or 
agreed  upon  in  the  city  of  Monticello,  whence  these  eighteen 
conspirators,  after  the  manner  of  the  Arabs,  had  folded  their 
tents  at  the  capitol  and  silently  stolen  away.  The  reading  of 
the  constitution  would  only  be  disturbed  when  some  interlocu- 
tory decree  of  Osborn  and  Company  had  to  be  carried  into 
effect.  The  following  is  a  fair  sample  of  some  of  these  decrees: 
On  the  2oth  of  February,  J.  E.  Davidson  and  M.  L.  Stearns, 
who  received  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  votes  cast,  were  seated 
from  the  Fourth  District,  in  place  of  Daniel  Richards  and  W. 
M.  Saunders;  Richard  Wells,  who  did  not  get  twenty  votes, was 
seated  from  the  Sixth  District  in  place  of  C.  H.  Pearce.  O.  B. 
Hart,  who  received  the  same  number  of  votes  as  Wells,  was 
seated  from  the  Fourteenth  District  in  place  of  Liberty  Billings; 
John  W.  Butler,  who  made  no  contest,  was  seated  from  the 
First  District  in  place  of  George  Walker,  who  failed  to  attend 
the  convention  after  being  elected. 

After  passing  a  resolution  declaring  the  script  issued  by  the 
first  convention  void,  the  constitution  was  signed  and  the  con- 
vention adjourned  on  the  25th  day  of  February,  subject  to  call 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  63 

of  President,  or  any  ten  members,  in  case  the  President  is  out 
of  the  State.  Nine  members  of  the  Billings-Richards  faction 
signed  the  constitution  under  protest,  as  they  were  threatened 
that  they  should  have  no  pay  unless  they  did  sign  it. 

Billings,  now  the  candidate  of  his  faction  for  Governor, 
"began  to  stump  the  State  against  the  adoption  of  the  constitu- 
tion. The  freedmen  were  wrathy  and  began  to  raise  money  to 
end  Richards  and  Saunders  to  Congress  to  protest  against  the 
admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union  in  case  the  constitution 
was  adopted.  Some  four  or  five  hundred  dollars  were  raised 
and  they  went  off  to  Washington.  They  had  not  been  absent 
long  before  Richards  sent  back  to  the  freedmen  the  following 
telegram:  "Florida  is  safe;  Congress  is  with  us !  Praise  the 
Lord."  For  an  hour  the  air  was  filled  with  shouts  from  the 
freedmen.  One  freedman  while  on  his  dying  bed,  and  con- 
scious of  his  approaching  death,  gave  the  only  five  dollars  he 
had  to  be  sent  to  Saunders  and  Richards  at  Washington.  Saun- 
ders had  not  been  there  many  days  before  the  Osborn  faction 
captured  him  and  sent  him  back  to  the  State  to  canvass  for  the 
adoption  of  the  New  Constitution.  He  came  back  but  did  not 
dare  stop  in  Tallahassee  for  fear  of  being  mobbed  by  the  freed- 
men. Now  that  one  of  the  trinity  had  deserted,  Billings  and 
Richards  were  left  to  conduct  the  canvass  themselves  with  the 
assistance  of  C.  H.  Pearce,  who  had  been  ousted  from  the  con- 
vention. Billings  would  hold  his  meetings  on  large  plantations 
in  the  night  time,  so  as  to  get  all  the  old  men  and  women  out, 
as  they  generally  controlled  the  younger  class.  In  order  to 
deeply  impress  the  freedmen  with  the  justness  of  his  cause  and 
of  his  unblemished  Republicanism,  he  would  have  all  the  little 
colored  children  brought  out  to  the  meetings,  and  would  ask  the 
name  of  each,  and  then  take  them  up  and  kiss  them.  A  little 
soap  and  water  would  not  have  done  some  of  them  any  harm. 
When  he  would  kiss  the  children  you  could  hear  on  all  sides 
from  the  freedmen  words  like  these:  "  I  will  vote  ebery  day 
for  that  man."  "  I  will  die  for  that  man."  "That  man  is  a 
good 'publican."  Billings  hearing  these  words  would  shout  to 
them,  "Jesus  Christ  was  a  Republican."  So  attached  were 
these  people  to  Billings  that  they  introduced  a  sign  among  them- 
:selves  which  was  the  given  name  of  Billings.    When  one  wanted 


64  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

to  know  how  the  other  stood  to  Billings,  he  would  say  *'  Lib- 
erty," and  if  the  other  was  a  Billings  man  he  would  answer 
"Liberty." 

On  the  Billings  State  Ticket  was  Sam.  Walker,  for  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, and  D.  Richards,  for  Congress,  while  the  Repub- 
lican party  had  nominated  Harrison  Reed  for  Governor,  Wil- 
liam H.  Gleason  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Charles  Hamil- 
ton, for  Congress.  The  Democrats,  taking  courage  at  the  fight 
of  the  two  Republican  factions,  nominated  George  W.  Scott  for 
the  head  of  their  ticket,  and  in  conjunction  with  Billings,  op- 
posed the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  The  election  was  held 
on  the  4th,  5th  and  6th  days  of  May,  and  resulted  in  the  elec- 
tion of  Governor  Reed  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Gleason,  and 
the  ratification  of  the  constitution  by  five  thousand  majority. 
There  is  no  question  about  the  fact  of  Billings  carrying  Leon 
County  against  the  constitution,  though  the  vote  as  counted  did 
not  show  it.  Governor  Reed  was  honestly  elected,  but  a  large 
majority  of  the  votes  cast  in  the  above  county  were  against  the  con- 
stitution but  were  for  Harrison  Reed,  and  the  Legislative  Ticket 
of  Billings.  The  vote  was  more  evenly  balanced  between  Reed 
and  Billings.  The  Billings  Constitution  was  not  put  before  the 
people  to  be  voted  on,  as  that  could  not  be  done  without  the 
indorsement  of  General  Meade,  and  he  refused  to  recognize 
that  constitution  for  the  reason  that  it  was  made  without  a  ma- 
jority of  the  delegates  elected ;  but  both  constitutions  were  laid 
before  Congress  by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  traitorous  features  of  the  Osborn 
constitution  was  a  clause  to  prohibit  any  person  from  being  eligi- 
ble to  the  office  of  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Member  of 
Congress,  or  United  States  Senator,  unless  he  had  been  nine 
years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  two  years  a  citizen  of  the 
State  of  Florida,  and  a  registered  voter.  This  was  done  to  shut 
out  such  colored  men  as  the  educated  and  brilliant  Gibbs,  and 
other  leading  lights  of  the  colored  race  in  the  State.  They  were 
handicapped,  however,  by  the  amendments  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  therefore  their  scheme  did  not  work  well; 
but  the  attempt  to  steal  is  bad  morally,  if  not  legally.  This 
clause  first  took  effect  upon  one  of  the  schemers,  William  H. 
Gleason,  who,  not  having  been  a  citizen  of  Florida   two  years 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  65 

before  the  election,  was  ousted  from  the  office  of  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  by  order  of  the  court  in  proceedings  instituted  by 
Governor  Reed  in  consequence  of  the  attempt  of  Gleason  and 
his  co-conspirators  to  impeach  and  suspend  Reed  and  inaugu- 
rate Gleason  as  Governor. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Memorial  of    Richards   a?id    Saunders  to   Congress    Against    the 
Osborn  Constitution.      Criticism  on  the  Memorial. 

After  the  re-assembling  of  the  convention,  which  resulted 
in  the  utter  defeat  of  Richards  and  Saunders,  and  the  consequent 
setting  aside  of  all  the  previous  proceedings,  the  defeated  parties 
carried  the  matter  into  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  with 
the  hope  of  preventing  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union 
under  the  constitution  made  by  the  recognized  body.  They 
accordingly  drew  up  the  following  memorial,  which  was  laid  before 
that  body  on  the  23d  of  March,    1868  : 

FLORIDA  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION— ITS 
HISTORY. 

Enclosed  is  the  order  of  Major-General  John  Pope,  com- 
manding third  military  district,  calling  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  Florida,  and  his  return  of  the  delegates  elected. 

By  the  said  order  it  will  be  seen  that  forty-six  delegates  were 
returned  as  elected. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  when  the  convention  was  organ- 
ized, thirty  delegates  were  present,  twenty-seven  of  whom  voted 
for  the  officers  elected,  and  two  against  them — one  not  voting, 
but  who  next  day  asked  and  obtained  leave  to  have  his  vote 
recorded  in  favor  of  the  organization. 

Next  day,  21st,  standing  rules  were  adopted  by  a  unanimous 
vote.  The  convention  was  organized  by  electmg  to  most  of  the 
offices  radical  republicans,  and  threats  were  openly  made  by  the 
conservative  Johnson  office-holders  and  rebels  that  no  constitu- 
tion should  be  made,  nor  business  done,  until  the  organization 
of  the  convention  was  broken  up.  Conservative  republicans, 
both  in  and  out  of  the  convention,  began  to  caucus  night  and 
day,  with  the  leading  rebels  freely  admitted  to  their  councils,  to 
devise  ways  and  means  to  overthrow  the  radicals.  The  princi- 
pal hotel  in  the  city  was  opened  free  to  the  delegates  who  would 
act  with  them,  and  who  were  all  poor — many  of  them  not  money 
enough  to  pay  board  bills  with.  Whisky  flowed  free  as  water. 
Money  was  used  in  abundance  to  corrupt  the  delegates,  whick 
was  like  tendering  bread  to  a  starving  man. 

The  unworthy,   debasing  influences  brought  to  bear  upon 


68  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

the  delegates  would  disgrace  any  other  part  of  Christendom,  if  it 
does  not  Florida. 

Like  hungry  wolves  around  a  carcass,  the  Federal  office- 
holders in  the  State  congregated  together  there  as  with  a  com- 
mon purpose,  and  that  purpose  to  defeat  reconstruction  on  a  re- 
publican basis  in  that  State.  The  caucuses  of  the  organized 
lobby  were  held  every  night  until  nearly  daylight,  and  money 
furnished  bv  the  Johnson  office-holders,  and  every  other  influence 
was  used  to  bring  in  delegates  to  join  them. 

Among  those  who  took  active  part  against  the  convention 
as  oganized,  and  most  of  whom  were  almost  constantly  in  cau- 
cus, were  the  following,  viz  :  Harrison  Reed,  O.  B.  Hart,  T. 
W.  Osborn,  Sherman  Conant,  Lemuel  Wilson,  A.  A.  Knight, 
O.  Morgan,  M.  L.  Stearns,  E.  D.  Howse,  W.  J.  Purman,  S.  B. 
Conover  and  E.  K.  Foster,  all  holding  offices  under  the  General 
Government. 

Colonel  John  T.  Sprague,  commander  of  the  State,  previous 
to  the  organization,  and  during  the  convention,  exercised  his 
influence  actively  in  the  interest  of  .those  who  finally  disrupted 
the  co^ivention.  C.  Thurston  Chase  and  S.  F.  Dewy,  both 
Federal  office-holders,  aided  by  their  correspondence,  counsels 
and  advice  the  faction  striving  to  gain  the  control  of  the  conven- 
tion or  to  break  it  up.  E.  M.  Randall,  brother  of  the  Post- 
master-General, was  constantly  in  caucus  with  them,  as  was  also 
Captain  Dyke,  editor  of  the  Floridian,  and  keeper  of  Anderson- 
ville,  where  our  Union  soldiers  were  starved.  Governor  David 
S.  Walker  rendered  them  all  the  aid  and  comfort  in  his  power, 
and  after  the  convention  was  broken  up  and  a  new  one  organ- 
ized, he  was  on  the  floor  of  the  convention  every  day  among  the 
delegates  and  on  one  occasion  made  a  speech  to  the  conven- 
tion. 

Every  effort  to  proceed  with  the  business  of  the  convention 
was  violently  resisted  by  this  disorganizing  faction  in  the  body, 
aided  by  a  powerful  and  thoroughly  organized  lobby,  for  two 
weeks.  During  this  time  only  forty-one  delegates  had  sub- 
scribed to  the  oath  as  required  by  the  rules  of  the  convention  ; 
the  others  having  failed  to  appear  and  subscribe  to  the  oath. 
The  great  struggle  of  the  opposition  was  to  turn  enough  delegates 
out  or  vote  enough  into  the  convention  to  give  them  control  of  it. 
At  the  end  of  two  weeks'  wrangling,  the  opposition  were  beaten 
on  a  close  vote  of  twenty-one  to  twenty,  and  the  combined  con- 
servative and  rebel  faction,  to  the  number  of  eighteen,  withdrew 
in  a  body  to  break  up  the  convention.  Other  of  the  conservative 
delegates  had  previously  gone  home — one  a  Union  man  of 
such  strong  rebel  proclivities  that  it  was  stated  on  the  floor  of 
the  convention  by  his  friends  that  he  would  not  take  the  oath  to 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  69 

support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  proclamations 
made  thereunder.     He  had  left  some  ten  days  previous. 

When  these  last  eighteen  withdrew  there  were  but  twenty- 
two  delegates  left  in  the  convention.  These  twenty-two  dele- 
gates remaining  in  the  convention  diligently  applied  themselves 
to  the  object  for  which  they  came  together  during  the  following 
week.  By  taking  the  present  Florida  constitution,  and  making 
just  such  change?  in  it  as  the  altered  circumstances  seemed  to 
require,  on  the  8th  day  of  February  they  finished  their  work, 
formed  and  signed  a  good  constitution.  They  then  adjourned 
for  one  week,  in  order  to  give  time  to  lay  the  constitution  before 
General  Meade,  and  get  his  endorsement  of  the  ordinance  call- 
ing an  election,  as  it  could  not  be  enforced  without  the  general 
commanding  the  district  gave  validity  to  it  by  his  endorsement. 

When  the  seceding  delegates  withdrew,  they  immediately 
left  the  city  of  Tallahassee,  fearing,  probably,  if  they  remained, 
some  of  their  weaker  members,  who  had  been  kept  intoxicated  all 
the  time  for  two  weeks,  might  get  sober  enough  and  be  induced  to 
go  back  into  the  convention,  and  thus  make  a  quorum  of  all  the 
delegates  elected.  They  repaired  to  Monticello,  some  thirty 
miles  distant,  sent  messengers  and  special  trains,  and  money  to 
try  and  gather  together  the  fugitive  delegates,  who  had  previ- 
ously gone  home.  They  remained  away  from  the  capital  an 
entire  week,  and  until  the  convention  had  completed  its  labor, 
formed  a  constitution,  signed  it,  and  adjourned  for  a  week  to 
hear  from  General  Meade.  The  convention  adjourned  on 
Saturday,  February  8.  The  following  Monday,  February  lo, 
the  seceding  delegates  returned,  at  midnight,  22  strong.  With 
the  aid  of  the  military  furnished  by  Governor  Walker,  they  broke 
into  the  State-house  at  dead  of  night.  C.  M.  Hamilton,  until 
very  recently  agent  in  the  P'reedman's  Bureau,  and  believed  by 
most  of  the  delegates  to  be  still  in  command,  with  power  to 
enforce  his  orders,  went  and  took  from  their  beds  two  of  the 
delegates  who  had  already  signed  one  constitution,  took  them  to 
the  State-house,  and,  between  the  hours  of  twelve  and  two 
o'clock  in  the  night,  they  assumed  to  organize  a  convention,  with 
the  military  standing  guard  around  and  in  the  State-house.  A 
guard  of  soldiers,  furnished  by  direction  of  Governor  Walker, 
was  stationed  in  the  hall  night  and  day. 

On  Tuesday,  the  nth,  this  disorganizing  organization  went 
through  with  the  performance  of  expelling  four  delegates  who 
had  not  met  with  them  at  all,  and  then  swore  in  five  men  who 
tried  hard  to  be  elected  as  delegates  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, but  did  not  get  votes  enough,  and  consequently  Gen- 
eral Pope,  although  pressed  hard  for  weeks  to  do  so,  did  not 
return  them  as  elected.  They  then  telegraphed  General  Meade 
that  they  were    organized  as  the  Constitutional   Convention    of 


70 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


Florida,  and  had  a  large  majority  of  the  delegates  elected  and 
returned.  General  Meade  had  hesitated  to  endorse  the  action  of 
the  adjourned  convention  of  22  delegates,  for  the  reason  that  they 
had  not  a  majority  of  the  delegates  elected  to  sign  the  constitu- 
tion. A  majority  of  those  who  had  duly  taken  and  subscribed 
to  the  oath,  as  required  by  the  rules,  had  signed  it.  The  gen- 
eral admitted  to  the  messenger  sent  to  confer  with  him  that  the 
convention,  as  first  organized,  was  the  only  legal  organization, 
and  said  if  two  more  names  could  be  procured  to  the  constitu- 
tion he  would  approve  of  it  at  once,  and  indorse  the  election 
ordinance. 

The  organization  that  held  possession  of  the  hall  continued 
in  session  through  the  week,  sending  their  published  proceed- 
ings to  General  Meade,  and  their  gross  misrepresentations  by 
telegraph  through  the  Associated  Press  all  over  the  country. 

When  the  day  arrived  to  which  the  regular  convention 
stood  adjourned,  the  delegates  were  confronted  on  their  en- 
trance to  the  hall  with  bayonets  of  United  States  soldiers. 
Application  was  then  made  to  Governor  D.  S.  AValker,  as  the 
chief  executive  civil  officer  in  the  State,  to  have  all  parties 
arrested  and  removed  from  the  hall  who  were  hindering  the  con- 
stitutional convention  from  assembling,  and  were  thereby 
obstructing  reconstruction  in  the  State.  He  refused  to  take  any 
action  in  the  matter  in  behalf  of  the  convention.  Lieutenant 
Colonel  F.  F.  Flint,  commanding  post  of  Tallahassee,  was  then 
informed  that  the  civil  authorities  refused  to  aid  in  securing  the 
hall  to  the  convention,  and  was  asked  to  assist  the  officers  of  the 
convention,  with  the  military  under  his  command,  in  entering 
upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  He  declined  to  interfere, 
but  kept  up  his  guard  around  the  concern  then  in  the  hall. 

The  correspondence  upon  this  subject  is  enclosed ;  also, 
correspondence  with  General  Meade,  after  he  arrived  at  the  cap- 
ital. The  communications  are  numbered  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  and  6, 
and  especial  attention  is  called  to  them.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
Governor  Walker  says  he  shall  use  all  the  power  he  possesses  to 
,-revent  one  party  ejecting  the  other  from  the  hall,  which,  of 
course,  means  that  he  should  protect  the  seceding  revolutionary 
body,  as  he  had  helped  them  to  the  possession  of  the  hall,  and 
Ihey  were  occupying  it. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that,  by  the  aid  of  Governor  Walker 
and  the  military,  the  convention  was  prevented  from  assembhng 
on  the  day  that  it  was  adjourned  to  and  the  illegal  midnight 
assemblage  was  protected,'  receiving  the  high  sanction  of  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  State.  'Vht  correspondence 
with  Governor  'Walker  and  Colonel  Flint  was  on  Saturday, 
February  15.  On  Monday,  the  17th,  General  Meade  arrived  at 
Tallahassee.     A    committee   of  delegates  from  the   convention 


CARPETBAG    RULE    TN    FLORIDA.  7 1 

waited  upon  him  at  once  to  learn  his  views.  It  was  believed 
that  if  the  legally  organized  convention  were  permitted  to  peace- 
ably assemble  in  the  hall  where  they  were  to  meet,  enough  of 
those  men  in  the  hall  would  cheerfully  join  with  the  twenty-two 
delegates  to  make  a  majority  of  all  elected.  Indeed,  many  of 
the  delegates  in  the  hall  said,  ''That  as  the  ordinance  provid- 
ing for  pay  of  the  members  had  to  be  indorsed  by  the  command- 
ing General  to  render  it  valid,  and  as  the  authorities  seemed  to 
favor  them,  they  thought  it  safer  to  remain  with  the  organiza- 
tion than  in  the  hall  so  long  as  they  were  sustained  by  the  mili- 
tary. 

The  committee  failing  to  get  any  satisfactory  reply  from  the 
General,  and  understanding  him  to  say  that  ' '  the  organization  m 
the  hall  had  no  legal  status,  nor  could  get  any,"  the  President  of 
the  convention  addressed  the  General  a  letter,  marked  No.  5, 
asking  him  to  withdraw  the  forcible  opposition  to  the  assembling 
of  the  convention.  No  answer  was  returned ;  guard  was  con- 
tinued in  the  hall  and  around  the  State-house  after  General 
Meade  arrived  there,  with  the  concern  he  himself  said  had  no 
legal  status,  in  possession  and  in  session. 

The  next  day  the  General  sent  for  the  President  and  told 
him  if  he  did  not  resign  as  President  of  the  convention  he 
should  recognize  the  other  body  as  the  legal  organization. 
Colonel  Sprague  also  sought  a  number  of  interviews  with  the 
President  and  urged  him  to  resign,  saying  if  he  did  not  the  other 
body  would  be  recognized,  and  then  ' '  you  will  have  to  take 
your  chances  of  getting  in  there  at  all,"  (meaning  the  twenty- 
tv/o  delegates  by  you),  while  he  (Colonel  Sprague)  with  the 
whole  military  power  was  protecting  the  other  organization  in 
possession  of  the  hall.  The  President  desired  General  Meade 
to  state  his  request  that  he  resign  in  writing,  which  being  com- 
plied with,  the  resignation  was  tendered  under  protest. 

See  letter  from  General  Meade  marked  No.  6,  and  enclosed 
therein  is  the  proposition  to  compromise  to  which  he  refers,  and 
also  the  President's  resignation. 

At  three  o'clock,  on  Tuesday,  February  iS,  delegates  all 
met  in  the  hall  by  request  of  General  Meade.  Colonel  John  T. 
Sprague  took  the  president's  chair.  He  called  the  meeting  to 
order  and  made  a  speech  to  the  delegates.  He  received  and 
put  motions,  and  decided  questions,  while  two  or  three  of  his 
subordinate  officers  of  his  own  regiment  were  sitting  as  dele- 
gates, and  voting  on  motions  put  by  their  Colonel.  S.  B.  Con- 
over  and  W.  J.  Purman  are  both  officers  in  Colonel  Sprague's 
regiment,^  and  were  sitting  as  delegates. 

Horatio  Jenkins  was  elected  President.     The  standing  rules, 

*NoTE.— purman  -was  not  an  officer  and   Conover  had  only  been  a  contract  sur- 
geon. 


72  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

which  had  been  unanimously  adopted  by  the  convention  the 
second  day  after  organizing,  and  which  provided  that  said  rules 
could  not  be  amended  nor  changed  without  one  day's  notice, 
were  all  swept  away  by  a  resolution.  By  another  motion  the 
rules  of  Jefferson's  Manual  were  adopted  to  govern  the  body, 
and  within  a  half  hour  after  the  rules  of  the  Florida  House  of 
Representatives  were  adopted  under  the  operation  of  the  pre- 
vious question,  without  a  word  of  debate.  All  the  motions, 
were  made  by  the  same  delegate.  All  officers  of  the  conven- 
tion were  summarily  turned  out  by  resolution,  and  all  motions 
and  resolutions  were  rushed  through  under  the  previous  ques- 
tion without  debate.  The  previous  question  was  moved  and 
ordered  fourteen  times  within  half  an  hour,  and  nine  times  in 
rapid  succession  by  the  same  delegate,  without  yielding  the 
floor.  The  journal  next  morning  did  not  show  that  the  previous 
question  had  been  ordered  at  all  the  day  previous,  and  omitted 
to  give  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  most  important  resolution  acted 
upon  the  day  previous.  It  was  ordered  that  the  journal  be  cor- 
rected, but  when  it  appeared  again  not  more  than  half  of  the 
corrections  had  been  made.  After  that,  during  the  entire  ses- 
sion, there  were  no  minutes  of  proceedings  ever  read  to  the  con- 
vention nor  approved  by  it.  It  is  a  humiliating  fact  that  not  a 
single  page  of  the  journal,  as  published  after  the  reorganization, 
is  anything  like  a  correct  record  of  the  proceedings. 

On  Wednesday,  February  19,  the  day  after  the  reorganiza- 
tion, the  convention  met  and  under  the  operation  of  the  same 
inexorable  previous  question,  expelled  four  delegates  by  a  major- 
ity vote.  They  then  swore  in  four  others  in  their  places,  who 
had  received  but  a  small  minority  of  the  votes  cast  at  the  elec- 
tion, one  receiving  only  7iine  votes,  while  the  delegate  turned 
out  to  give  place  to  him  had  twenty-four  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  votes.  They  also  swore  in  a  Mr.  J.  W.  Butler  in  place  of 
George  W.  Walker,  who  had  been  returned  as  elected,  but  had 
not  yet  been  in  attendance.  General  Meade  had  said  when  in 
Tallahassee,  that  if  the  convention  should  swear  any  one  in  who- 
was  not  returned  as  elected  by  General  Pope's  order,  he  should 
interfere.  But  Mr.  John  W.  Butler,  O.  B.  Hart,  J.  E.  David- 
son, M.  L.  Stearns,  Mr. Wells,  were  all  sworn  in  as  soon 

as  the  General  left  the  city,  and  acted  with  the  convention  until 
its  close,  and  then  signed  the  constitution. 

Thus,  with  the  aid  of  all  the  civil  and  military  authorities, 
and  a  free  use  of  money,  whisky,  and  the  previous  question, 
the  regular  Constitutional  Convention  of  Florida  was  broken  up 
by  the  Johnson  Federal  office-holders,  led  on  by  Harrison  Reed, 
United  States  mail  agent,  and  David  S.  Walker,  Governor  of 
Florida. 

After  the  adoption  of    the  constitution  an   ordinance  was 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FI-ORIDA.  73 

introduced  and  passed  that  any  member  who  did  not  sign  the 
constitution  should  be  deprived  of  his  pay  for  the  entire  session. 
See  last  day's  proceedings. 

The  constitution  provides  that  the  Governor  shall  appoint 
the  following  State  officers,  viz :  Secretary  of  State,  attorney 
general,  comptroller,  treasurer,  surveyor-general,  superintendent 
of  public  institutions,  adjutant  general,  commisioner  of  immigra- 
tion, the  Supreme  Court  judges  for  life,  seven  circuit  judges, 
seven  states  attorneys,  and  all  commissioned  officers  in  the 
militia.  Lieutenant  Governor  is  elected.  The  Governor  also 
appoints,  with  power  to  remove  at  pleasure,  the  following  county 
officers  in  each  county  in  the  State,  viz:  An  assessor,  collector^ 
treasurer,  county  surveyor,  superintendent  of  schools,  county 
judge,  sheriff,  clerk  of  Circuit  Court,  five  county  commissioners, 
and  as  many  justices  of  the  peace  as  he  pleases,  and  for  life. 
Constables  are  elected  by  the  people. 

By  the  appointment  provided  for  in  said  constitution,  less 
than  one-fourth  of  the  registered  voters  will  elect  a  majority  of 
the  State  Senate,  and  less  than  one-third  will  elect  a  majority  of 
the  Assembly;  6,700  voters  in  the  rebel  counties  elect  as  many 
senators  (twelve  and  one  Indian)  as  20,282  voters  elect  in  Union 
counties.  Seven  senators  are  elected  by  3,027  voters  in  rebel 
counties,  and  only  <7^;^  senator  is  elected  by  3,181  in  a  Union 
county  (Leon),  and  twenty-three  voters  elect  ^/^^  senator  in  a  rebel 
district. 

In  the  Assembly,  8,330  voters  in  rebel  counties  choose 
twenty-seven  members  and  one  Indian,  while  18,652  voters  in 
Union  counties  only  choose  twenty-six  members.  Madison  county 
(Union),  with  1,802  voters  sends  two  representatives,  while  the 
rebel  sent  from  Dade  county  has  a  constituency  of  fifteen  voters, 
and  the  rebel  from  Brevard  county  represents  a  bona  fide  con- 
stituency of  eight  registered  voters. 

It  grants  suffrage  to,  and  removes  all  disabilities  from,  the 
vilest  rebels  and  haters  of  the  government,  and  permits  them  to 
be  elevated  to  places  of  power  and  trust,  without  regard  to  the 
reconstruction  acts  of  Congress,  and  disfranchises  thousands  of 
the  colored  voters.  All  rebels  are  relieved  from  taking  tbe 
registration  oath  that  Congress  has  prescribed,  and  from  taking 
the  oath  of  office  prescribed  by  the  act  of  Congress  and  required 
of  every  officer  under  the  General  Government.  It  also  assumes 
to  regulate  the  eligibility  of  United  States  senators  and  members 
of  Congress  from  that  State. 

The  constitution  having  been  formed  in  the  manner  above 
described,  it  is  evident  that  means  will  be  found  to  ratify  it 
without  regard  to  the  number  of  votes  actually  cast  for  it,  should 
the  boards  of  registration  be  in  any  manner  under  the  control  of 
the  men  who  broke  up  the  convention. 


74  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

The  constitution  formed  by  the  legally  organized  conven- 
tion before  it  was  broken  up  extends  the  right  of  suffrage  to  just 
the  class  entitled  to  it  under  the  reconstruction  acts  of  Congress, 
and  requires  officers  to  take  the  same  oath  now  prescribed  for 
officers  under  tne  General  Government,  but  authorizes  the  legis- 
lature by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  to  remove  all  disabilities  imposed 
for  having  engaged  in  the  rebellion.  It  apportions  representa- 
tives in  the  Legislature  upon  the  basis  of  registered  voters;  makes 
all  State  officers,  except  the  judiciary,  and  many  county  officers, 
elective  by  the  people,  and  jealously  guards  and  protects  the 
rights  and  interests  of  all  classes  in  the  State  alike.  Had  the 
sanction  of  such  high  authority,  both  civil  or  military,  been 
thrown  around  the  legally  organized  convention,  as  seemed  to  be 
so  eagerly  extended  to  the  midnight  concern,  there  can  be  no 
question  but  what  accessions  would  thus  have  been  induced  to 
their  number,  so  that  a  very  large  majority  of  the  convention 
would  have  cheerfully  co-operated  with  the  twenty-two  delegates 
in  forming  and  signing  said  constitution. 

When  we,  with  so  much  pride,  recollect  that  General 
Meade  is  the  hero  of  Gettysburg,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
he  is  human,  also,  and  fallible;  and  that  he  is  more  liable  to 
make  a  mistake  in  dealing  with  civil  affairs,  when  surrounded 
by  designing,  unscrupulous,  intriguing  politicians,  than  he  is 
in  his  profession  as  a  soldier.  That  he  should  not  have  sus- 
tained the  organization  he  himself  had  before  recognized  as  legal 
and  regular,  instead  of  breaking  it  up,  was  undoubtedly  a  great 
mistake. 

Colonel  Sprague,  commander  of  the  State,  whose  advice 
in  relation  to  all  local  matters  must  necessarily  have  great 
weight  with  the  General,  is  in  thorough  sympathy  with  the 
most  conservative  conservatives  in  the  State.  He  has  passed 
through  three  wars  without  being  in  either,  having  asked  and 
obtained  a  position  on  Governor  Seymour's  staff  during  the 
last  war,   while  his  regiment  was  in  the  field. 

For  a  truthful  and  more  graphic  account  of  the  Florida  con- 
vention see  the  letters  of  Solon  Robinson,  one  of  the  editors,  in 
the  New  York  Tribune  of  the  8th,  loth  and  12th  of  February 
last.  Also  see  editorial  in  the  Tribune  of  the  loth,  fully  sus- 
taining and  indorsing  what  Mr.  Robinson  had  written. 

Your  memorialists  pray  that  Congress  may,  in  its  wisdom 
and  in  view  of  all  the  facts  set  forth  above,  find  that  the  constitu- 
tion formed  by  the  twenty-two  delegates  who  remained  and  com- 
pleted their  work  before  the  convention  was  l)roken  up  is  the 
only  one  that  should  be  submitted  to  the  voters  of  that  State  for 
ratification. 

1).  RICHARDS, 
W.  U.  SAUNDERS. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  75 

Governor  Reed,  although  prominently  spoken  of  for  Gov- 
ernor by  the  most  influential  Republicans,  was  not  attached  to 
either  faction  of  the  convention,  but  gave  his  earnest  efforts^ 
>vhile  securing  the  rights  of  freedmen  to  prevent  proscription  of 
the  whites  on  account  of  the  rebellion;  but  the  Osborn-Purman 
faction  realized  the  fact  that  they  could  not  succeed  without  his 
brain,  and  looked  upon  him  as  the  only  means  by  which  they  could 
hope  to  obtain  success.  They  privately  expressed  fears  that  he 
would  not  be  as  pliant  as  they  would  desire  in  aiding  their 
schemes  of  plunder,  but  could  find  no  other  alternative.  The 
memorial,  therefore,  does  not  state  what  is  true  when  it  asserts 
that  Harrison  Reed  took  part  in  the  canvass  to  defeat  recon- 
struction on  the  republican  basis.  Both  parties  were  bidding 
for  Democratic  support,  which  was  finally  knocked  off  to  the 
Osborn  faction.  The  Hon.  Charles  Summer  vigorously  opposed 
the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union  under  this  Osborn 
constitution.  He  declared  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate  that 
''Florida  should  not  be  admitted  until  she  came  with  clean 
hands." 

Governor  Reed  being  the  supposed  candidate  of  the  Osborn 
faction  for  the  office  of  Governor,  it  was  but  natural  that  the 
Richards  faction  should  attempt  to  place  him  in  the  most  awk- 
ward position  before  Congress;  hence  his  name  heads  the  list 
with  those  whom  they  charge  with  defeating  reconstruction  on 
a  repulican  basis.  There  was  some  money  spent,  and  many 
concessions  made  to  the  Democrats  by  the  Osborn  faction,  to 
overthrow  the  Richards  convention,  as  charged  in  the  memorial. 
Reed  was  mainly  instrumental  in  procuring  those  concessions, 
as  he  believed  in  the  professions  of  future  loyalty  to  the  Union, 
and  regarded  it  necessary  to  enlist  the  intelligent  class  in  behalf 
of  the  reconstructed  government  to  protect  the  State  against  mis- 
rule through  the  ignorance  of  the  newly  enfranchised  freedmen. 
He  favored  an  apportionment  of  the  Legislature  so  as  to  secure 
the  sparsely  settled  white  counties  against  the  domination  of 
the  populous  black  belt;  he  favored  the  admission  of  all  to 
citizenship,  with  no  test  but  that  of  allegiance  to  the  amended 
constitution;  he  favored  the  appointing  power  of  the  Governor 
to  general  and  local  offices,  temporarily,  to  save  the  State  from 
a  threatened  war  of  races  which  would  banish  the  whites  from 


76  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

the  old  slave-holding  counties  and  the  freedmen  from  the  white 
counties  of  South  and  West  Florida.  He  was  held  responsible 
for  these  concessions,  and  was  denounced  by  the  radical  leaders 
of  the  freedmen,  and  the  colored  vote  of  Duval,  Nassau,  Leon 
and  Gadsden  counties  was  mostly  thrown  against  him  and  the 
constitution.  It  was  only  by  these  concessions  that  the  conflict- 
ing elements  could  be  at  once  harmonized  and  the  State  pro- 
tected from  violence  and  the  necessity  of  military  force.  The 
result  vindicated  his  judgment,  and  during  the  four  and  a  half 
years  of  his  administration  no  resort  to  force  was  necessary,  and 
the  freedmen  were  less  proscribed  than  during  the  early  stages 
of  reconstruction  in  any  other  Southern  State. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

The  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1868.  Inauguration  of  Governor 
Reed^  arid  His  Address.  Ratification  of  the  13th  and  14th 
Amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Election 
of  United  States  Senators.  Extracts  from  Reed's  Message. 
Governor  Reed's  Cabinet.  First  Years  of  Reed's  Administra- 
tion. His  Appointifig  Rower  a  Source  of  Corruption.  Cor- 
rupt Legislation.  The  Attitude  of  the  Colored  Members  to 
These  Measures.  Osborn  and  the  Federal  Office-holders. 
Reed  Calls  on  the  Colored  Voters  for  Support.  Meeting  of  the 
Legislature  November^  1868,  and  the  Appointment  of  Electors. 
Atte??ipt  at  Ifnpeachment.  The  Ouster  of  Alden  and  the 
Appointment  of  Gibbs  as  Secretary  of  State.  The  Ouster  of 
Gleason  as  Lieutenant- Goz>'ernor. 

The  Legislature  met  and  organized  on  the  8th  day  of  June, 
1868,  under  a  constitution  framed  by  the  people  of  Florida  in  a 
convention  assembled  by  the  authority  of  what  is  known  as  the 
reconstruction  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  On 
the  9th  of  June  the  joint  Assembly  repaired  to  the  Supreme 
Court  room  to  witness  the  inauguration  of  the  first  Governor  of 
Florida,  whose  election  had  been  secured  by  a  majority  of  all 
the  male  inhabitants  of  the  State,  twenty-one  years  of  age  and 
upwards,  without  regard  to  color  or  previous  condition  of  servi- 
tude. Governor  Reed  came  forward  and  was  sworn  in  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida  by  Judge  Boynton,  of  the  United  States  District 
Court  amidst  the  shouts  of  thousands  of  glad  people  who  now 
began  to  see  the  dawn  of  a  new  day.  After  taking  the  oath  of 
office  the  Governor  delivered  the  following 

inaugural  address. 

Fellow  Citizens  of  Florida: 

*'  In  entering  upon  the  high  trust  which  your  partiality  has 
conferred,  in  deference  to  time-honored  custom,  it  becomes 
my  duty  to  briefly  indicate  the  policy  of  my  administration  as 
chief  magistrate  of  the  State. 


yS  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

*'  In  November,  i860,  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Florida  were  subverted,  and  its  civil  government  was 
overthrown.  Since  then  the  State  has  been  without  a  constitu- 
tional government,  and  subject  to  military  law.  In  March,  1867, 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  obedience  to  its  obligation 
to  'guarantee  to  every  State  a  republican  form  of  government,' 
prepared  a  plan  by  which  the  State  could  regain  its  forfeited  rights 
and  its  people  be  restored  to  the  benefits  of  the  constitutional  gov- 
ernment. Under  this  plan,  you  have  formed  a  government,  which 
we  are  here  to-day  to  inaugurate  and  prepare  to  make  effective. 
You  have  formed,  and  adopted  a  constitution  based  upon  the 
great  theory  of  American  government,  that  all  men  are  by  nature 
free  and  endowed  with  equal  rights.  You  have  laid  deep  and 
broad  the  foundations  of  the  State  upon  the  principle  of  universal 
freedom.  Bred  to  freedom  and  under  republican  institutions ; 
believing  slavery  an  unmitigated  curse,  as  well  as  a  violation  of 
human  rights— a  moral,  political  and  physical  evil  wherever 
tolerated,  I  most  cordially  congratulate  you  that  it  no  longer 
exists  to  blight  the  fair  heritage  which  God  has  given  us  here, 
and  that  the  constitution  which  you  have  adopted  contains  no 
germ  of  despotism  to  generate  future  discord.  I  congratulate 
you  also  that  no  spirit  of  malevolence  or  bitterness,  growing  out 
of  the  wrongs  and  conflicts  of  the  past,  has  been  suffered  to  mar 
your  organic  law,  but  that  in  a  spirit  of  magnanimity  and  for- 
bearance worthy  of  the  highest  commendation,  those  who  have 
forfeited  their  citizenship  are  welcomed  back  to  the  benefits  and 
privileges  of  the  government  upon  the  sole  condition  of  fealty 
and  adherence  to  the  constitution  and  laws. 

•'Amid  the  ruins  of  a  government  embodying  antagonistic 
principles  you  have  laid  the""  foundation  of  a  government  insur- 
ing harmony,  stability,  security  and  peace.  The  conflicting  ele- 
ments and  interests  of  the  past  now  all  unite  in  a  homogeneous 
system,  all  yielding  obedience  to  a  common  law,  which  respects 
alike  the  interests  of  all.  Time  alone  can  heal  the  social  disor- 
ders and  dissensions  created  by  the  disruption  of  society  and 
the  radical  change  in  the  system  of  government,  consequent  upon' 
the  war.  We  will  patiently  await  its  mollifying  influences,  inter- 
posing no  obstacles  to  a  speedy  restoration. 

"All  classes  of  society  and  all  the  interests  of  the  State 
demand  peace  and  good  government,  and  if  the  spirit  of  our 
constitution  is  appreciated  and  reciprocated,  every  citizen  may 
realize  these  advantages,  and  the  State  may  arise  from  its  pros- 
trate condition  to  a  measure  of  prosperity  unknown  in  the  past, 
and  become  one  of  the  brighest  luminaries  in  the  galaxy  of  our 
glorious  Union. 

"  Fellow  citizens,  I  accept  the  high  responsibility  of  the 
chief  magistracy  under  your   new  constitution,  believing  firmly 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


79 


in  its  principles,  and  unqualifiedly  endorsing  its  policy  and  that 
of  the  Congress  under  whose  clemency  we  are  permitted  to 
inaugurate  anew  a  civil  government  for  the  State.  I  enter  upon 
this  high  trust  with  the  firm  purpose  of  executing  the  laws  in 
the  spirit  of  liberality  in  which  they  are  conceived,  and  in  view 
of  the  highest  interests  of  the  State  and  the  people.  Relying 
upon  your  loyalty  and  patriotism,  and  the  favor  and  guidance  of 
that  Divine  Power  which  sways  the  destinies  of  all,  I  shall  do 
what  within  me  lies  to  render  eftective  the  government  and  to 
command  for  it  the  respect  and  obedience  of  all  classes  of  our 
citizens." 

After  the  inauguration  of  Governor  Reed,  the  Legislature 
was  notified  by  Colonel  F.  F.  Flint  that  the  Commanding  Gen- 
eral would  not  recognize  the  Governor-elect  and  Legislature 
until  further  orders  from  Congress.  On  the  ninth  of  June  the 
Legislature  adopted  the  13th  and  14th  Amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  The  Legislature  on  June  i6th 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  United  States  Senator  for  the  term 
expiring  March  3d,  1869.  The  cunning  Osborn  of  the  "  Broth- 
erRood  "  was  a  candidate  for  the  short  term,  but  it  had  already 
been  determined  by  Purman  and  Company  to  give  him  the 
largest  and  longest  slice  of  the  public  ham,  so  as  to  cover  the 
entire  term  of  Governor  Reed,  which  would  enable  him  to  use 
his  influence  as  Senator  to  fill  the  Federal  offices  with  men 
antagonistic  to  the  Governor  should  he  refuse  to  give  his  signa- 
ture to  any  subsequent  legislation  passed  by  the  influence  of 
Purman  and  Company  to  rob  the  State  and  its  people.  A.  S. 
Welch  was  elected  to  fill  the  term  expiring  March  3d,  1869,  and 
T.  W.  Osborn  for  the  term  ending  March  3d,  1873.  Osl^orn 
would  have  been  elected  for  the  term  beginning  March  4th, 
1869,  but  it  was  thought  by  Purman  and  Company  that  it  was 
important  to  have  him  in  the  Senate  on  the  admission  of  the 
State  into  the  Union  so  as  to  control  the  offices.  Abijah  Gilbert, 
an  old  gentleman  of  reputed  wealth,  resident  at  St.  Augustine, 
was  pitched  upon  on  account  of  his  money,  he  agreeing  to  cash 
$50,000  or  $100,000  State  bonds  at  85  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
for  the  further  reason  that  he  was  very  old  and  would  always  say 
"me  too,  Osborn,"  in  any  recommendations  the  latter  would 
make  for  appointments  to  office.  Gilbert  was  elected  to  fill  the 
term   ending   March  3d,    1875.     After  the  election  of  United 


8o  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

States  Senators  the  Legislature  adjourned  until  the  7th  of  July 
to  await  the  action  of  Congress  as  to  the  admission  of  the  State 
into  the  Union.  On  the  25th  of  June,  Congress  declared  the 
State  entitled  to  admission,  and  on  the  30th  day  of  the  same 
month,  Florida  was  represented  in  both  branches  of  the  National 
Legislature.  The  State  having  been  admitted  into  the  Union 
under  the  new  Constitution,  the  Legislature  now  convened  on 
the  day  appointed  and  received  the  message  of  Governor  Reed. 
The  Governor,  after  reciting  the  peculiar  and  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  assembled  on  the  8th  of  June — in 
a  military  district  but  without  military  sanction — said  : 

"After  near  eight  years  of  defiant  wandering  and  estrange- 
ment, during  a  portion  of  which  time  no  peaceful  citizen  was 
safe  from  the  demands  of  a  lawless  despotism,  and  life  and 
property  were  at  the  mercy  of  usurpers,  Florida  has  renewed  her 
allegiance  to  the  Federal  Constitution  and  resumed  her  position 
in  the  union  of  States  with  a  radical  change  in  her  fundamen- 
tal law,  which  compels  a  corresponding  change  in  our  system  of 
legislation." 

In  referring  to  the  policy  of  the  government  conferring  the 
right  of  suffrage  upon  the  negro  the  Governor  said:  ''The 
government  could  not,  with  honor,  deny  to  the  man  who  car- 
ried a  musket  in  its  defense  a  voice  in  its  administration.  To 
have  required  him  in  war  to  fight,  and  in  peace  to  bear  the  bur- 
den of  other  citizens,  and  then  deny  him  a  voice  in  its  adminis- 
tration, cannot  be  sustained  by  any  argument  based  upon  prin- 
ciples of  justice  or  morals."  Contrasting  the  Constitution  of 
1868  with  the  Amended  Constitution  of  1 861,  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  the  Governor  quoted  from  the  latter  the  foUow^ing: 
"  No  citizen  of  any  of  the  States  which  are  now  at  war  with  the 
Confederate  States  shall  ever  be  admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizen- 
ship in  this  State ;  no  such  person  shall  vote  at  elections,  be 
eligible  to  office,  hold  real  estate,  exercise  any  profession  or 
trade,  be  engaged  in  mechanical,  manufacturing,  commercial, 
banking,  insurance  or  other  business,  under  pain  of  confiscation 
to  the  use  of  the  State  of  all  property  of  such  person  as  shall 
violate  this  clause  of  the  constitution."  With  this  he  cotrasted 
the  following  from  the  new  republican  Constitution  :  ''  Every 
male  person   of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and    upwards,  of 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  8l 

whatever  race,  color,  nationality,  or  previous  condition,  who 
shall,  at  the  time  of  offering  to  vote,  be  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  or  who  shall  have  declared  intention  to  become  such  in 
conformity  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  have 
resided  and  had  his  habitation,  domicile,  home,  and  place  of  per- 
manent abode  in  Florida  for  one  year,  and  in  the  county  for  six 
months,  next  preceding  the  election  at  which  he  shall  offer  to 
vote,  shall  in  such  county  be  deemed  a  qualified  elector  at  all 
elections  under  this  constitution."  This  message  contained 
eighteen  subjects,  and  showed  great  powers  of  thought  and  per- 
ception. All  the  varied  phases  of  the  State  were  discussed  as 
though  he  had  studied  the  subjects  from  boyhood,  and  any  one 
who  read  it  would  be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  his 
*aim  to  administer  an  honest,  and  economical  government  for  the 
State  and  its  people. 

The  Cabinet  of  Governor  Reed  consisted  of  eight  members. 
To  show  the  Southern  whites,  who  were  greatly  irritated  at  the 
turn  of  things,  that  he  meant  to  give  them  an  honest  administra- 
tion, he  appointed  Colonel  Robert  H.  Gamble,  Comptroller,  the 
most  important  office  of  his  Cabinet.  Colonel  Gamble  was  an 
ex-slaveholder  and  a  Democrat.  He  also  appointed  James  D. 
Westcott,  Jr. ,  Attorney-General,  also  a  Democrat,  who  supported 
the  slave  power.  From  these  appointments  Governor  Reed  had  a 
right  to  expect  at  least  support  from  the  Southern  whites  to  give 
his  administration  a  fair  trial.  No  colored  man  was  appointed 
in  the  Cabinet,  although  the  Governor  expressed  his  willingness 
to  have  negro  representation  in  every  department,  and  did  send 
to  the  Senate  the  name  of  John  C.  Gibbs,  for  Secretary  of 
State,  whose  right  name  was  afterwards  found  to  be  Jonathan 
C.  Gibbs,  and  his  name  was  withdrawn.  The  Governor  insisted 
on  sending  up  the  right  name,  but  the  Osborn-Purman  faction 
threatened  opposition  to  his  administration  if  any  negro  was 
placed  in  the  Cabinet.  The  Governor,  not  knowing  what  the 
end  might  be,  for  the  moment  refrained. 

The  administration  of  Governor  Reed  was  contaminated 
with  more  agencies  inimical  to  the  establishment  and  mainte- 
nance of  an  honest  civil  government  than  the  administration 
of  any  Governor  of  Florida  since  the  State  was  first  admitted 
into  the  Union.      One  of  these  agencies  was  the  appointing 


82  CARPETBAG    RULE    IX    FLORIDA. 

power,  where  all  the  officers,  both  State  and  county,  with  the 
exception  of  constables,  were  appointed  by  the  Governor,  and 
nine-tenths  of  these  officers  had  to  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 
The  Governor,  unacquainted  with  the  men  in  the  different 
counties  who  were  capable,  honest,  friendly,  disposed  to  peace, 
order  and  good  government,  made  it  a  rule  to  look  to  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  from  the  counties  to  inform  him  of 
the  fitness  of  the  candidate  for  office.  This,  though  in  most 
instances  unavoidable,  opened  the  door  to  corruption  and  politi- 
cal treason  to  his  administration.  The  carpetbag  Senators  and 
Representatives  from  the  different  counties  would  always  man- 
age to  get  the  endorsement  of  some  colored  men  whom 
they  would  represent  to  the  Governor  as  having  great 
influence  and  respectability  in  the  county  where  they  lived; 
and  whenever  an  appointment  was  to  be  made  in  a  Democratic 
county  and  one  of  these  office-seekers  wanted  to  secure  the 
prize,  but  whose  antecedents  against  the  negro  in  the  county 
where  he  lived  was  such  that  he  could  not  get  an  endorsement, 
he  would  represent  to  the  executive  that  he  was  the  only  man  in 
the  county  that  stood  between  the  negro  and  his  former  master 
and  prevented  wholesale  slaughter  of  his  colored  brothers. 
Whenever  the  executive  could  make  opportunity  without  great 
delay  to  inquire  into  these  representations,  he  would  generally 
find  them  false,  and  would  thereupon  appoint  a  Democrat — 
when  no  honest  Republican  could  be  found — who  was  friendly  to 
the  just  administration  of  these  laws.  Many  of  these  offices  were 
filled  by  men  who  held  seats  in  the  Legislature,  and  who  had  in 
their  pockets  plunder  bills  to  be  acted  upon  at  the  same  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  to  give  them  a  start.  There  were  a  few 
exceptions,  among  whom  was  Judge  Goss,  who  resigned  his 
position  as  Senator  as  soon  as  he  was  appointed  Circuit  Judge. 
The  Governor,  in  several  counties  where  it  was  held  disrepu- 
table to  hold  office  under  a  Republican  Governor,  had  to  appoint 
one  man  to  fill  two  or  three  offices  in  order  to  get  men  friendly 
to  the  new  administration.  Men  whose  names  came  up  in  the 
Senate  for  confirmation,  unless  they  were  members  of  that  body, 
would  have  to  come  down  with  the  cash  before  they  could  pass 
through  the  gate  of  Purman  and  the  other  members  of  the 
carpetbag  family  in  that  body.      The   Governor   was  forced   to 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  83 

appoint  men  as  county  judges  and  solicitors,  some  of  whom  it 
was  very  doubtful  as  to  whether  they  had  ever  seen  the  inside  of 
a  law  book.  Many  of  the  carpetbag  office-holders,  anterior  to 
their  advent  in  the  South  had  been  blatant  Democrats  at  the 
North,  but  not  even  respectable  cross-road  politicians,  yet  who 
now  claimed  to  be  great  men,  and  the  proper  leaders  of  the 
colored  people  of  this  State. 

The  second  of  these  adverse  agencies  was  the  tendency  of 
the  Bureau  carpetbag  members  of  the  Legislature  to  rush 
through  corrupt  legislation.  These  men,  now  secure  in  their 
offices  for  the  several  counties,  but  yet  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, were  in  a  position  to  dictate  to  the  Governor  as  to  legisla- 
tion. They  now  began  to  feel  the  Governor's  pulse.  A  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  Senate  by  A.  A.  Knight,  an  Osborn  carpet- 
bagger, while  he  was  holding  in  his  pocket  a  commission  as  cir- 
cuit judge,  "to  incorporate  the  Florida  Savings  Bank."  The 
bill  was  one  granting  extraordinary  and  indefinite  powers  without 
sufficient  guaranties  of  protection  to  the  public — rendering  it 
lawful  for  public  officers  to  deposit  the  funds  of  the 
State,  and  others  to  deposit  trust  funds,  with  no  adequate 
security;  giving  a  company  with  $20,000  cash  capital  the  power 
to  control  an  unlimited  amount,  and  actually  affording  large 
facilities  for  obtaining  money  from  the  people,  and  by  a  breach 
of  trust  enriching  the  stockholders  at  the  expense  of  the  public. 
The  managers  and  stockholders  were,  of  course,  to  be  the 
carpetbag  office-holders.  The  bill  was  telegraphed  from  New 
York  by  L.  D.  Stickney,  one  of  Secretary  Chase's  direct  tax  com- 
missioners for  Florida.  A  check  for  $500  was  sent  to  Knight  to 
secure  its  passage.  It  was  passed  in  both  Houses  under  sus- 
pension of  the  rules,  within  twenty-four  hours  after  its  receipt. 
It  was  taken  to  the  Governor  the  same  evening  by  Knight,  who 
requested  its  immediate  approval,  so  that  he  could  send  a  certi- 
fied copy  to  New  York  by  the  next  mail.  He  vouched  ''on 
the  honor  of  a  Senator "  for  its  freedom  from  any  obnoxious 
features.  The  Governor  held  it  for  advisement  over  night; 
returned  it  with  his  veto,  and,  on  its  return,  the  Senate,  with 
its  swindling  features  exposed,  did  not  dare  to  vote  to  pass  it  over 
the  Governer's  veto.  Even  Knight  himself  did  not  so  vote. 
This  was  the  first  bill  passed,  and  the  first  of  the  many  vetoes 


84  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

by  which  Governor  Reed  sought  to  protect  the  State  against 
fraud,  corruption  and  villainy.  This  was  a  snug  little  place  in 
which  to  deposit  the  people's  money  and  cry  out  "broke"  after 
making  a  division  among  the  stockholders.  The  scheme  was 
entered  into  to  rob  both  negroes  and  whites,  as  well  as  to  rnake 
away  with  the  public  funds. 

This  veto  caused  great  consternation  in  the  Osborn  ring 
plotters,  and  from  that  time  out  they  swore  vengeance  against 
Reed  and  his  administration.  Other  infamous  schemes  were 
invented  at  the  same  session,  which  came  to  naught  through  the 
veto  of  the  Governor.  See  "veto"  journal  of  the  Senate,  page 
224. 

The  Republican  members  of  the  Legislature  who  really 
represented  true  republican  principles,  were  in  the  minority, 
and  were,  therefore,  powerless  to  do  much  to  arrest  the  disgrace 
which  these  corrupt  practices  were  bringing  to  the  party;  and, 
as  these  schemes  were  adopted  by  a  so-called  Republican  cau- 
cus, any  member  of  the  party  voting  against  them  in  the  caucus 
or  otherwise  was  looked  upon  and  denounced  as  voting  against 
a  party  measure,  and  was  accordingly  set  down  as  a  traitor  to 
the  party.  The  most  of  the  non-office-seeking  and  honest  white 
Republicans  were  denounced  as  Democrats  in  those  palmy 
days  of  corruption.  J.  H.  Goss,  J.  E.  A.  Davidson  in  the  Sen- 
ate, and  E.  J.  Harris  in  the  Assembly  were  the  typical  white 
Republicans  in  the  Florida  Legislature  at  that  session.  They 
were  Southern  Republicans. 

The  "  brothers  in  black,"  some  of  whom  had  heretofore 
followed  the  Billings-Richards  faction,  seemed  to  have  been 
quite  indifferent,  either  as  to  men  or  measures,  since  they  had 
lost  their  supposed  great  leaders,  while  some  of  them,  such  as 
H.  S.  Harman  and  Richard  H.  Black,  were  men  of  education, 
and  did  all  they  could  at  that  session  to  pass  a  school  law  for 
the  education  of  the  masses.  Otherwise  they  seemed  content  to 
enjoy  full  citizenship.  They  knew  nothing,  it  seemed,  about 
stealing  by  legislation  at  that  session,  and  had  not  the  colored 
members  been  associated  with  their  bad  white  leaders,  they 
might  have  legislated  for  years  before  learning  to  steal  by  stat- 
ute. 

The  Democrats  at  this  session  had  very  few  members  in 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  85 

either  branch  of  the  Legislature,  and  amounted  to  but  little. 
Among  the  most  noted  of  them  were  Dr.  J.  L.  Crawford,  of  the 
seventh  district,  now  our  able  and  courteous  Secretary  of  State, 
A.  L.  McCaskill,  of  the  second  district,  and  George  P.  Raney, 
of  the  Assembly,  from  Franklin  county,  now  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  one  of  the  most  incessant  work- 
ers in  the  legal  profession  that  has  ever  adorned  the  bench. 
Mr.  Raney  was  a  pure  and  honest  Democrat,  whose  advanced 
ideas  the  Democrats  of  the  State  may  yet  have  to  adopt  to 
make  the  party  a  true  Democratic  party,  and  save  it  from  over- 
throw. 

The  third  of  these  agencies  was  the  whites  who  had  been 
excluded  from  office  by  the  14th  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  who  had  previously  taken  an  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  by  reason  of  holding  cer- 
tain offices  and  afterwards  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebel- 
lion. The  most  of  them  had  been  politicians  before  and  during 
the  war,  and  had  great  influence  in  their  several  communities. 
They  were  now  rampant,  and  when  they  would  appear  before 
their  people  would  represent  themselves  as  persecuted  men. 
These  men  and  their  friends  would  seize  on  every  corrupt  meas- 
ure or  misstep  of  the  carpetbag  Legislature  and  carry  it  to  their 
people  as  the  result  of  their  exclusion,  and  with  the  cry  of  ''negro 
supremacy  and  domination "  arouse  the  passions  of  their  peo- 
ple to  fever  heat.  The  fact  of  their  former  slaves  sitting  in  the 
Legislature,  voting  for  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which 
excluded  them  from  the  rights  of  citizenship,  was  a  little  more 
than  human  nature  could  have  been  expected  to  swallow  with- 
out some  protest,  as  did  the  negro  protest  who  had  carried  a 
musket  for  nearly  three  years  in  defense  of  the  Government,  and 
was  then  excluded  from  the  rights  of  citizenship.  But  if  the 
carpet-baggers  had  gone  in  at  the  start  for  honest  government 
these  men  would  have  had  no  material  on  which  to  feed  and 
infuriate  the  people.  Governor  Reed  would  have  been  enabled 
to  muster  enough  of  the  Southern  whites  to  the  support  of  the 
Republican  administration  in  the  State  to  have  given  it  great 
strength  and  respectability.  The  Governor  was,  from  the 
beginning,  opposed  to  this  wholesale  plunder  system,  but  the 


86  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

cry  was,  that  it  was  carried  on  under  his  administration,  and  the 
odium  was  thrown  upon  his  shoulders.   * 

This  Legislature  made  radical  changes  in  the  criminal  laws, 
as  well  as  laws  tending  to  protect  the  labor  interests  of  the  State. 
After  memorializing  Congress  to  remove  the  disability  of  those 
who  had  been  excluded  from  citizenship  by  reason  of  participation 
in  the  rebellion,  which  was  voted  for  by  every  ex-slave  in  the  Leg- 
islature, both  houses  met  in  joint  session  and  adjourned  to  meet  in 
convention  on  the  third  day  of  November  to  appoint  the  Presi- 
dential Electors  of  the  State. 

T.  W.  Osborn,  comfortably  seated  in  the  United  States 
Senate  for  the  term  of  four  years,  now  began  to  reorganize  his  forces 
to  resist  the  administration  of  Governor  Reed.  As  United  States 
Senator  he  was  enabled  to  prevent  the  appointment  of  any  one 
to  a  Federal  office  who  would  not  agree  to  use  his  office  in  every 
possible  way  to  cripple  and  retard  the  State  administration.  No 
officer  was  appointed  with  reference  to  his  special  fitness  ;  but  on 
the  other  hand  the  only  qualification  that  seemed  to  have  been 
necessary  was  that  the  applicant  was  a  carpet-bagger,  and  that  he 
would  join  him  in  his  opposition  to  Governor  Reed.  Only  two 
colored  men  were  appointed  to  office  by  Osborn's  indorsement, 
and  these  two  positions  were  insignificant  so  far  as  the  emolu- 
ments were  concerned.  Many  of  these  Federal  officeholders  had 
been  appointed  by  Governor  Reed  to  fill  the  offices  in  the  sev- 

'»XoTE. — Failing  to  either  intimidate  or  subsidize  the  Governor  for  their  purposes 
of  phinder,  as  a  last  alternative,  the  Osborn  ring,  under  the  lead  of  Speaker  Stearns, 
in  the  Assembly,  and  United  States  Marshal  Wentworth  in  the  Senate,  determined 
to  inaugurate  a  "  war  of  races,"  and  thus  compel  martial  law,  so  that  the  Federal 
troops  under  the  control  of  the  marshal  should  have  full  sway.  It  was  planned 
in  secret  counsel  that  before  adjourning  the  Legislature  bills  should  be  passed  to 
compel  hotel  keepers  and  railroad  companies  to  receive  and  provide  for  negroes  on 
the  same  terms  as  whites,  and  thus  place  ithe  Governor  between  two  fires.  If  he 
approved  the  bills  the  whites  would  be  provoked  to  violence,  and  if  he  vetoed  them 
the  freedmen  would  all  be  arraj-edagain.st  him,  and  his  impeachment  would  be  made 
certain.  Accordingly,  two  bills  were  framed  and  passed  in  the  Assemblj-,  making  it 
a  penal  offense  to  exclude  persons  from  equal  privileges  in  hotels  or  on  railroad  cars 
on  account  of  color.  To  avoid  difficulty,  the  Governor  called  the  Republican  Sen- 
ators in  council  at  the  executive  office  and  explained  the  impossibility  of  maintain- 
ing civil  administration  with  such  aggravating  legislation,  and  finally  he  declared 
he  could  not  sanction  it.  The  only  response  was  the  immediate  pas.sage  of  the  bill 
and  its  immediate  veto  V)y  the  Governor.  It  was  near  the  last  day  of  the  .session; 
and  after  the  final  adjournment  the  negro  population  had  assembled  in  the  rotunda 
of  the  Capitol  and  unitedly  denomiced  (iovernor  Reed  as  a  traitor,  and  then  the  plan 
of  impeachment  was  perfected,  to  be  carried  out  at  the  next  session,  with  0.sborn  to 
prepare  the  charges  and  Horatio  Jetikins  as  prosecutor. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  87 

eral  counties,  but  as  the  officers  of  the  State  and  county  had  to 
receive  their  stealings  and  pay  in  State  and  county  scrip  at  a 
discount — sometimes  more  than  one-half — and  the  Federal  offi- 
cers were  paid  in  greenbacks,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  get  these 
spoilsmen  to  swear  undying  allegiance  to  Osborn.  These  Federal 
officers  were  appointed  in  every  county,  with  instructions  to  resist 
every  one,  be  he  Republican  or  Democrat,  who  was  friendly  to 
the  State  administration,  who  should  attempt  to  be  elected  to  the 
Legislature  ;  for  it  was  here  that  Osborn  proposed  to  block  the 
wheels  of  the  administration.  Whenever,  by  reason  of  the 
scarcity  of  Osborn  carpet-baggers  in  any  county  where  Federal 
offices  were  to  be  filled  and  the  duties  were  too  multifarious  for 
one  or  two  persons,  recruits  would  be  sent  from  Washington  to 
take  the  vacant  places.  Such  persons  needed  no  teaching  on 
their  arrival  how  to  oppose  Governor  Reed,  for  that  lesson  had 
been  taught  them  before  they  left  Washington.  These  officers 
had  great  influence  with  the  ignorant  masses,  who  were  taught 
by  them  that  they  had  been  sent  by  the  Government  to  oppose 
Governor  Reed.  With  this  mode  of  warfare  they  would  succeed 
in  every  election  for  members  of  the  Legislature  to  either  carry 
the  Republican  counties  against  the  administration,  divide  the 
Legislative  delegation,  or  elect  a  Democratic  delegation.  The 
latter  was  as  great  a  victory  to  them  as  the  former,  as  it  tended 
to  show  the  authorities  at  Washington  that  the  Governor,  though 
a  Republican,  was  not  backed  up  by  his  party,  and  enable 
Osborn  to  secure  the  appointment  of  all  the  applicants  whom  he 
recommended.  To  aid  these  officeholders  to  carry  out  the  plans 
of  Osborn,  the  freedmen  were  told  that  Governor  Reed  had 
gone  over  to  the  "  Rebel  Democracy."  This  of  course  alarmed 
the  freedmen  and  for  a  time  united  the  most  of  them  against  the 
Governor.  In  the  meantime  the  Osborn-Purman  faction  began 
to  subsidize  such  men  as  Goss,  J.  E.  A.  Davidson,  E.  M.  Ran- 
dall, and  J.  S.  Adams,  who  were  now  sustaining  Reed,  and  were 
in  favor  of  straightforward,  honest  Republicanism,  while  most  of 
the  colored  leaders  were  reluctant  to  give  their  full  support  to 
the  Governor,  from  the  fact  of  his  not  having  put  one  of  their 
race  in  his  Cabinet.  The  Governor  realizing  this  fact,  and  aware 
of  the  snare  which  Osborn  had  constructed  for  him,  sent  for  C. 
H.  Pearce,   colored,   who  had  been  ousted  from  the   Constitu- 


88  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

tional  Convention  by  Osborn  &  Co.,  and  who  had  now  been 
elected  to  the  Senate  from  the  Eighth  Senatorial  District  by  a 
large  majority;  and  had  a  consultation  with  him  with  reference 
to  the  conspiracy  that  Osborn  and  his  officeholders  had  formed 
to  resist  his  administration.  Pearce  was  convinced  that  the 
Governor  was  sincere  in  trying  to  administer  the  government 
with  honesty  and  pledged  himself  to  do  whatever  he  could  to 
enlighten  his  people  as  to  the  true  intention  of  the  administra- 
tion. Mr.  Pearce  was  a  minister  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  and 
had  great  influence  with  the  colored  people  throughout  the 
State.  He  was  enlisted  as  an  active  agent  and  furnished  with 
money  to  visit  the  various  counties  where  trouble  existed  and 
quiet  the  apprehensions  of  the  freedmen  ;  and  he  rendered  great 
service  in  Leon,  Gadsden,  Franklin,  Hamilton  and  other  coun- 
ties, in  allaying  the  fears  of  the  colored  masses,  who  were  being 
constantly  excited  by  appeals  of  the  false  leaders  against  the  old 
white  citizens  and  Governor  Reed,  who  was  charged  with  being 
their  ally.  This  move  on  the  part  of  Governor  Reed  had  the 
effect  of  mustering  the  most  of  the  colored  ministers  to  his  sup- 
port. The  ministers  throughout  the  State  began  to  teach  their 
congregations  that  Reed  was  the  embodiment  of  true  Republi- 
canism, while  Osborn  &  Co.  were  mere  tricksters  and  office- 
seekers,  which  in  time  united  a  large  majority  of  the  colored 
voters  in  favor  of  the  administration  of  Reed.  The  Governor 
was  determined  to  make  no  attack  on  the  conspirators  except 
when  he  would  interpose  his  veto  to  corrupt  measures ;  but  he 
held  himself  in  readiness  for  them  to  do  their  worst. 

On  the  3d  day  of  November  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
met  in  convention  at  Tallahassee  to  appoint  the  electors  of  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  the  Legislature  at  its  previous  session 
having  provided  this  mode  of  election.  Of  course  the  vote  of 
the  State  was  given  to  U.  S.  Grant.  James  D.  Green,  of  Mana- 
tee County,  was  appointed  as  messenger  to  convey  the  result  to 
Washington.  A  committee  of  the  convention  waited  on  Gov. 
Reed  and  notified  him  of  their  assembling  and  asked  if  he  had 
any  communication  to  make.  He  replied  that  he  had  none — 
that  they  were  not  sitting  as  a  Legislature  but  as  a  convention 
for  a  specific  purpose — that  done  they  had  only  to  adjourn.  They 
claimed   mileage   and    per   diem,    and  proposed  to   appropriate 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  89 

money  for  this  purpose.  The  Governor  reminded  them  that 
they  had  drawn  their  salary  for  the  year  and  could  only  claim 
mileage,  which  he  would  accord  to  them  from  the  executive 
contingent  fund.  They  unanimously  demanded  to  be  called  in 
special  legislative  session,  ostensibly  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
appropriating  pay.  The  Governor,  although  fully  advised  of 
the  purpose  of  Osborn  and  his  satellites  to  suspend  him  by  a 
resolution  of  impeachment,  thinking  it  best  to  have  the  fight 
opened  then  and  there,  acceded  to  the  demand  of  the  conven- 
tion and  called  them  in  special  session  for  a  specific  purpose. 
Osborn's  gang  immediately  forced  through  the  Assembly  the 
following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare 
and  report  articles  of  impeachment  against  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida,  with  power  to  send  for  persons,  papers  and 
records,  and  to  take  testimony  under  oath. 

H.  S.  Harmon,  colored.  Green  of  Manatee,  and  M.  L. 
Stearns  were  appointed  this  committee.  The  resolution  was 
reported  to  the  Senate  as  though  Governor  Reed  had  been 
impeached,  but  the  Senate  was  sitting  without  a  quorum,  as  the 
Democrats  were  not  in  their  seats,  as  were  not  some  of  the 
Republicans ;  therefore  their  proceedings  fell  flat  to  the  ground, 
so  far  as  it  affected  the  right  of  Reed  to  act  as  Governor  was 
concerned.  William  H.  Gleason,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
George  J.  Alden,  Reed's  Secretary  of  State,  interpreted  this 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  a  little  differently  from  that 
of  Governor  Reed  and  his  friends,  and  different  from  all  prece- 
dents of  impeachment  trials  and  investigations.  The  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State  making  it  the  duty  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
to.  act  as  Governor  in  case  of  impeachment  of  the  Governor,  was 
made  to  say  that  the  fact  of  a  resolution  being  passed  by  the 
Assembly  asking  for  articles  of  impeachment  to  be  prepared  was 
equivalent  to  suspension,  and  therefore  Gleason  was  Governor. 
Alden,  who  before  his  appointment  as  secretary  was  frozen  stiff 
with  poverty,  had  begun  to  pass  through  the  process  of  thawing 
from  the  genial  influence  of  a  good  salary  bestowed  upon  him  by 
the  hand  which  he  now  attempts  to  bite.  Gleason  sets  up  his 
claim  as  Governor  at  the  old  hotel  in  front  of  the  Capitol,  while 


9©  CARPETBAG.  RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Governor  Reed  held  the  Capitol.  Alden  now  deserts  Reed  and 
recognizes  Gleason  as  Governor  and  steals  the  State  seal  out  of 
the  Secretary  of  State's  office  and  attaches  it  to  Gleason's  docu- 
ments. This  went  on  for  several  days,  during  which  time  Reed's 
office  was  guarded  night  and  day  by  armed  police.  Gleason 
becoming  restless  at  not  getting  possession  of  Reed's  stronghold, 
ventured  one  day  to  take  possession  by  stratagem.  He  came 
into  the  executive  office  without  saying  anything  to  Governor 
Reed,  and  sat  there  for  some  time.  George  B.  Carse,  Adjutant- 
General,  a  very  impulsive  man,  who  understood  the  scheme  of 
Gleason,  at  once  ordered  him  out  of  the  room.  Gleason  made 
answer  that  this  was  a  public  office  and  that  he  would  not  go 
out,  whereupon  Carse  made  a  lunge  at  him  with  one  hand  with 
a  revolver  in  the  other.  Gleason  wore  a  fine  beaver  hat,  which 
went  one  way  while  he  went  the  other,  he  retreating  in  double 
quick  time  to  the  seat  of  his  hotel  government.  The  night  fol- 
lowing the  day  on  which  Gleason  made  his  disgraceful  retreat 
Governor  Reed  made  up  his  mind  to  move  on  the  works  of  the 
enemy.  He  commenced  the  attack  by  first  using  his  pruning- 
knife  in  his  Cabinet.  He  beheaded  Alden  and  appointed  Jona- 
than C.  Gibbs,  colored,  as  Secretary  of  State,  and  gave  him 
possession  of  the  office,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Gibbs  was  seated 
behind  his  desk  receiving  the  congratulations  of  his  friends. 
Numbers  of  freedmen  were  sent  for  from  the  country  to  witness 
and  congratulate  one  of  their  race  sitting  in  the  Capitol  as  Secre- 
tary of  State.  These  calls  and  congratulations  went  on  until  the 
next  day,  when  Alden  undertook  to  enter  the  door  of  the  Secre- 
tary's office.  He  was  at  once  ordered  away  by  the  Governor's 
police  and  the  crowd  of  freedmen,  who  did  not  propose  to  see 
Mr.  Gibbs  disturbed.  He  was  told  by  one  of  the  freedmen  that 
the  scepter  had  forever  departed  from  him,  as  he  had  sinned  against 
Governor  Reed.  He  remonstrated  with  them  and  told  them, 
"All  of  us  are  true  Republicans,  my  colored  friends;"  but  the 
freedmen  retorted,  ''You  no 'publican  if  youse  want  to  go  in 
Mr.  Gibbs'  office."  He  was  not  long  in  finding  out  that  it  was 
safer  for  him  to  be  somewhere  else,  and  with  trembling  limbs 
made  hasty  steps  away  and  reported  to  the  wily  Gleason  what 
great  disaster  had  befallen  one  of  the  gang.  The  appointment 
of  Mr.   Gibl)S  un( questionably  added  very  material   strength   to 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  9I 

Governor  Reed  from  the  freedmen.     They  now  saw  that  the 
man  whom  the  carpetbag  element  had  been  denouncing  as  their 
enemy  was  more  disposed  to  deal  justly  by  them  than  were  his 
traducers.     Secret  watchers  were  kept  on  the  track  of  Gleason 
and  Alden  until  Reed  could  sharpen  his  knife  for  the  decapita- 
tion of  Gleason.     On   the   9th  of  November  Governor   Reed, 
through  his  Attorney-General,  Meek,  assisted  by  J.  P.  Sander- 
son, M.  D.  Papy  and  A.  J.  Peeler,  filed  a  petition  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  asking  for  a  writ  of  quo  warranto  against  W. 
H.  Gleason,  requiring  him  to  show  cause  why  he  should  not  be 
ousted  from  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the   State  of 
Florida,  he  not  having  been  a  citizen  of  the  State  two  years,  as 
required  by  the  Constitution.     D.  S.  Walker  and  Horatio  Bisbee, 
Jr.,  appeared  for  the  respondent.     One  of  Gleason's  pleas  was 
that  Governor  Reed  had  solicited  him  to  run  for  the  office,  which 
was  untrue,  for  Reed  had  personally  protested  against  his  run- 
ning, and  offered  him  a  Cabinet  position  if  he  would  decline ; 
another  was  that  Governor  Reed  had  instituted  this  suit  in  pur- 
suance of  a  pledge  made  to  Gleason  that  if  he  persisted  in  his 
effort  to  supplant  him  he  would  oust  him  by  legal  process.     The 
proof  was  conclusive  that  he  was  holding  office  in  violation  of 
the  Constitution,  and  he  was,  therefore,  ousted  from  his  place 
as  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Florida.     He  appealed  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  so  as  to  hold  on  in  name,  but  not  in 
fact,  to  the   office   until  his  term  would   expire.     He  knew,  of 
course,  that  the  Supreme   Court  of  the  United  States  had  no 
jurisdiction  of  the  case.     The  Osborn  faction  had  by  these  two 
ousters  learned  something  of  the  fighting  qualities  of  Reed,  and 
thereafter  moved  with  more   caution  when  they  determined  to 
attack  him.     The  object  of  the  Osborn   gang  was  to  get  Reed 
out  of  the  way  and  put  Gleason  in  as  Governor,  and  Horatio 
Jenkins  was  to  be  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  he,  being 
one  of  Osborn's  henchmen,  would  not  throw  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  legislation  that  might  be  introduced  to  enrich  the  gang. 
The  deposition  of  Alden  and  Gleason  was  a  terrible  blow  to 
them  and  the  balance  of  their  companions  ;  but  the  Legislature 
appropriated  two  thousand  dollars  to  Gleason  for  attorney's  fees 
and  expenses  in  making  the  fight. 

In  view  of  the  conduct  of  the  Legislature  and  the  consequent 


92  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

misapprehension  and  mutual  distrust  of  the  blacks  and  whites, 
the  Governor  determined  to  secure  some  armament  for  the  State 
in  case  military  force  should  become  necessary.  He  visited 
Washington  and  sought  the  aid  of  the  government  by  claiming 
from  the  Ordnance  Department  the  issue  of  the  arms  due  the 
State  under  a  rule  which  had  been  suspended  during  the  war. 
This  was  denied.  He  then  called  upon  Governor  Andrew  of 
Massachusetts  and  Governor  Fenton  of  New  York  for  a  loan  of 
arms.  This  failing,  he  purchased  through  a  personal  friend  in 
New  York  two  thousand  stands  of  muskets  and  Enfield  rifles  and 
four  thousand  rounds  of  ammunition  on  a  credit  of  four  months, 
giving  notes  for  $21,000.  The  arms  were  shipped  and  delivered 
at  Jacksonville,  where  they  were  received  by  the  Adjutant-Gen- 
eral, Carse,  and  General  Houstoun,  then  president  of  the  rail- 
road company,  and  placed  on  board  the  cars  to  be  delivered  at 
Tallahassee.  A  guard  of  Federal  soldiers  had  been  placed  by 
General  Sprague  at  the  control  of  the  Governor,  but  fearing 
difficulty  if  a  military  force  appeared  on  the  cars,  General 
Houstoun  guaranteed  their  safe  delivery  if  the  guard  could  be 
withdrawn.  The  arms  were  on  board,  and  the  train  started  at 
night  with  the  Adjutant-General  in  charge.  The  railroad 
employees,  without  the  knowledge  of  President  Houstoun,  intro- 
duced into  the  cars  with  the  arms  men  engaged  to  throw  them 
out  when  they  should  reach  Madison  County,  where  a  company 
of  Dickinson's  guerillas  was  placed  along  the  road  to  seize  and 
destroy  them.  All  the  ammunition  and  all  but  eight  hundred 
of  the  guns  were  thus  thrown  out  and  destroyed,  or  carried 
away  to  be  used  by  the  enemies  of  the  government."  The  rail- 
road company  was  responsible  to  the  State  for  the  loss,  but  the 
Osborn  ring  being  implicated  and  in  control  of  the  Legislature, 
sought  to  involve  Governor  Reed  and  deprive  him  of  the  power 
and  the  means  to  pay  the  notes  he  had  given,  and  the  company 
was  not  called  upon  for  the  damages. 

Thus  ended  the  first  year  of  Governor  Reed's  administration. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  i86g,  and  Another  Attempt  at 
Impeachment.  Attempt  to  Bribe  Members  to  Vote  for  Impeach- 
metit.  Extracts  from  Governor  Reed's  Second  Message.  Gil- 
bert Compelled  to  Pay  for  His  Seat  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate.    Reed's  Vindication. 

The  second  session  of  the  Legislature  under  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1868,  met  on  the  fifth  day  of  January,  1869,  and  organ- 
ized by  electing  M.  L.  Stearns,  of  Gadsden  County,  of  freed- 
men's  provisions  notoriety,  as  Speaker  of  Assembly,  which 
placed  the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature  in  the  absolute  con. 
trol  of  the  Federal  office-holders,  the  Senate- being  presided  over 
by  Gleason,  who  had  appealed  from  the  decision  of  ouster  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  Samuel  Walker,  of  the  defunct  Billings-Saunders 
faction— and  elected  to  the  Legislature  from  Leon  County,  now 
sought  the  opportunity  to  give  active  effect  to  his  old  prejudice 
against  Governor  Reed  for  being,  as  he  said,  instrumental  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  Billings  faction.  Walker  now  renews  the 
attack  upon  the  Governor  by  reciting  a  resolution  relative  to 
impeachment  passed  at  the  November  session.  George  P. 
Raney,  Democratic  representative  from  Franklin  County,  offered 
a  substitute  to  the  resolution,  which  reads  as  follows  : 

Whereas,  It  is  known  to  this  Assembly  to  be  publicly 
alleged  that  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  has  done  and 
committed  acts  wrongful  and  unlawful,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  By  the  Assemby  of  the  State  of  Florida,^  that  a 
committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Speaker  to  inquire  into 
and  investigate  the  conduct,  acts  and  doings  of  said  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  and  that  the  said  committee  be 
empowered  and  authorized  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  and 
take  testimony  upon  oath  in  the  premises ;  and  that  the  said 
committee  be  required  to  report  the  result  of  its  investigations  at 
its  earliest  convenience  during  the  present  session ;  and  that  it 
accompany  its  report  with  the  testimony  taken  in  the  said  mat- 
ter." 


94  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

This  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  thirty  to  five. 
Samuel  Walker,  who  at  first  seemed  to  have  been  so  anxious  for 
investigation,  voted  against  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  for 
the  reason  that  he  thought  to  extort  from  the  Governor  the  posi- 
tion of  County  Revenue  Collector  during  the  impeachment  in- 
vestigation. George  P.  Raney,  a  Democrat,  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  investigating  committee,  which  placed  Governor 
Reed  between  two  fires.  It  was  the  purpose  of  the  Democrats 
to  show  all  the  shortcomings  and  misconduct  of  the  Republi- 
cans so  as  to  break  down  anything  like  respectable  government, 
while  the  plunder-hunting  Republicans,  by  urging  impeachment, 
expected  either  to  get  rid  of  Reed  by  impeachment  or  to  com- 
pel him  to  seek  safety  under  their  wing  by  pledging  himself  to 
put  his  signature  to  all  their  corrupt  legislation.  To  be  driven 
to  the  plunderers  would  be  certain  disgrace  and  death  to  his 
administration  and  the  Republican  party  of  the  State ;  and  for 
him,  a  life-long  Republican,  to  be  driven  to  the  Democratic 
party  by  these  unprincipled  men,  would  stigmatize  him  both 
politically  and  morally  as  a  coward.  Relying  upon  an  Allwise 
Providence  and  the  better  judgment  of  fair-minded  men  of  the 
Legislature,  Governor  Reed  stood  firm  as  the  rock  of  Gibraltar 
to  his  Republican  faith.  While  the  committee  was  investigating 
the  charges  against  the  Governor  it  became  evident  to  the  plun- 
derers that  they  would  not  be  able  to  ham-string  him  without 
bribing  some  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature.  Their  rooms 
in  the  hotels  were  the  scene  of  caucuses  every  night,  sometimes 
till  near  day.  The  great  destroyer  of  the  Divine  promise  of 
"peace  on  earth  and  good  will  toward  men,"  with  its  demon- 
like redness  and  horrifying  influence,  was  the  chief  attraction 
in  these  caucuses.  Men  could  be  seen  staggering  to  and  fro, 
breathing  out  curses  against  Harrison  Reed.  When  conspira- 
tors were  convinced  that  a  member  of  the  Legislature  could  not 
be  beguiled  by  cigars  and  whisky,  they  would  call  him  outside 
of  the  room  to  have  a  "  private  talk  "  with  him.  Convention 
scrip  and  greenbacks  would  be  offered  him  to  favor  the  impeach- 
ment of  Harrison  Reed.  These  night  caucuses  became  so  ridic- 
ulous and  notorious  that  they  brought  forth  the  following  reso- 
lution : 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  95 

''Whereas,  It  is  publicly  charged  that  certain  persons 
have  received  large  sums  of  money  and  State  scrip  to  induce 
said  persons  to  use  their  influence  to  induce  members  of  this 
Assembly  to  favor  impeachment  of  His  Excellency,  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  this  State;  and  whereas.  It  is  publicly 
charged  that  said  persons  are  so  using  their  influence  with  said 
members ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  by  this  Assembly 
to  investigate  the  conduct  and  domgs  of  His  Excellency  Harri- 
son Reed,  be  and  are  hereby  directed  to  investigate  said  charges 
and  report  the  result  of  their  investigation  in  the  matter  to  this 
Assembly  with  their  report  in  the  matter  of  the  affairs  of  His 
Excellency  Harrison  Reed ;  and  the  said  committee  are  author- 
ized to  send  for  persons  to  enable  them  properly  to  investigate 
said  charges." 

The  Assembly  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole 
on  the  resolution.  They  subsequently  reported  progress  and 
asked  leave  to  sit  again.  This  resolution  acted  as  a  bomb  shell 
in  the  camp  of  the  conspirators,  and  from  the  time  of  its  intro- 
duction until  the  termination  of  the  investigation  of  the  charges 
against  Governor  Reed,  they  had  all  they  could  manage  to  pre- 
vent being  exposed  and  arrested  for  bribery.  The  original 
movers  in  this  conspiracy  were  anxious  that  the  resolution  of 
investigation  of  the  charges  made  against  Governor  Reed  should 
be  passed  before  his  annual  message  was  received.  They 
expected  that  the  Governor  would  refer  to  the  charges  against 
himself  and  would  in  that  message  lay  down  his  express  line  of 
defense ;  but  he,  knowing  what  kind  of  men  he  had  to  deal 
with  did  not  refer  in  any  manner  to  his  traducers,  and  many  of 
them  expressed  themselves  as  being  satisfied  that  they  would 
force  him  to  resign  before  the  investigating  committee  reported; 
but  little  did  they  know  yet  the  ''  staying  "  qualities  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  on  the  7th  day  of  the 
month  to  receive  the  message  of  the  Governor.  The  designa- 
tion of  the  Lincoln  Brotherhood  had  now  been  changed  by 
those  Republicans  who  desired  good  government  to  that  of  the 
Osborn  Ring.  The  Governor  came  forward  and  deHvered  his 
message,  which  was  clear  and  logical.  Among  other  things  he 
said:  ''  With  the  election  of  America's  great  military  chieftain 
to  the  highest  office  in  the   nation,  the   peace,  welfare  and  pros- 


g6  -CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

perity  of  the  Union  is  secured,  upon  the  basis  of  freedom  and 
equal  rights.  Thoughout  our  beloved  State  violent  opposition  to 
the  Federal  authority  and  republican  government  has  ceased, 
and  all  classes  of  the  people  yield  obedience  to  the  laws.  The 
last  embers  of  the  late  rebellion  are  rapidly  dying  out,  and  our 
citizens,  'without  distinction  of  race,  color  or  previous  condi- 
tion,' are  gradually  uniting  in  behalf  of  common  interests  and 
mutual  prosperity.  The  newly  enfranchised  citizen  of  color 
sits  side  by  side  with  his  white  fellow-citizen  without  antagonism, 
in  the  cabinet,  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  the  jury  box,  and  on 
the  boards  of  commissioners — occupies  the  magistrate's  chair, 
and  executes  the  decrees  of  court  without  exciting  violence  or 
occasioning  asperity.  The  change  since  your  last  session  is 
marvelous,  and  calls  for  grateful  recognition."  In  referring  to 
the  organization  of  the  militia,  the  Governor  said:  ''Several 
volunteer  companies  of  patriotic  citizens,  both  white  and  colored, 
have  been  enrolled,  and  have  selected  their  officers,  but  in  the 
sensitive  condition  of  the  popular  mind  I  have  deemed  it 
unwise  to  accept  these  organizations."  The  Legislature  having 
passed  a  law  at  its  first  meeting  in  1868  authorizing  the  election 
of  a  State  Printer,  the  freebooters  had  no  trouble  to  elect  one  of 
their  number  to  that  office.  It  had  been  pre-arranged  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1868  what  laws  Osborn  and  his 
gang  would  enact  to  secure  them  the  possession  of  the  State  for 
years  to  come.  "Vandalize  the  State,"  was  Osborn's  order  to 
Governor  Reed.  Inmiediately  after  the  Governor  had  delivered 
his  message,  the  ring  had  the  Legislature  to  meet  in  joint  session 
and  elected  E.  M.  Cheney,  of  Jacksonville — subsequently  tainted 
with  the  notorious  Yellow  Bluff  fraud — as  State  Printer.  The 
ring  now  had  both  Senators  and  the  Representative  in  Congress 
against  the  State  administration,  and  the  Jacksonville  Unioi,  a 
paper  published  in  the  interest  of  Osborn  and  Company,  with  E. 
M.  Cheney,  editor.  The  ring,  elated  at  the  success  of  electing 
Cheney  for  State  Printer,  and  thinking  that  they  had  a  large 
majority  of  the  Legislature  at  their  backs,  went  boldly  to  the 
friends  of  Reed  and  informed  them  unless  Reed  resigned  his 
office  as  Governor  within  twenty-four  hours  after  Cheney's  elec- 
tion as  printer,  he  should  be  impeached  and  utterly  disgraced, 
and  if  the  ring  had  to  go  to  the  trouble  of  impeaching  and   try- 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  97 

ing  him  before  they  could  get  clear  of  him,  he  should  wind  up 
in  the  penitentiary.  These  admonitions  were  carried  to  Gov- 
ernor Reed  by  the  true  friends  of  the  Republican  government, 
some  of  whom  thought  it  best  to  let  the  government  go  into  the 
hands  of  these  men  and  go  to  pieces ;  but  the  Governor,  like 
the  brave  Fitz  James,  said  : 

"  Come  one,  come  all,  this  rock  shall  fly, 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  as  I." 

The  ring,  now  restless  in  spending  so  much  money  to 
impeach  Harrison  Reed,  was  determined  to  compel  others  to 
bear  some  of  the  burden.  Abijah  Gilbert,  who  had  been  elected 
United  States  Senator  to  fill  the  term  commencing  March  4, 
1869,  the  gold  of  whose  purse  yet  reflected  in  the  faces 
of  the  spoilsmen  of  the  last  regular  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature, was  pitched  upon  as  the  softest  and  most  available  man 
to  fill  and  settle  the  whole  bill.  On  the  19th  of  January  a  resolu 
tion  was  introduced  reciting  the  fact  that  large  sums  of  money 
had  been  used  at  the  last  session  to  secure  the  election  of  the 
said  Gilbert,  and  that  under  such  circumstances  the  election  was 
unlawful  and  void.  The  Legislature  thereupon  went  into  an 
election  of  United  States  Senator.  It  was  not  the  intention  of 
the  ring  to  elect  another  Senator,  but  this  part  of  the  game  was 
only  to  make  Gilbert  come  down  with  the  cash.  They  said 
openly  that  Gilbert  had  not  paid  enough  for  his  seat,  and  that 
this  proceeding  was  the  only  way  to  make  him  fork  up  the 
coveted  amount.  Gilbert  was  on  hand,  and  the  old  man  was 
frightened  nearly  out  of  his  breeches,  and  you  could  see  notes 
flying  from  his  room  in  the  hotel  to  the  Capitol  to  different  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature,  requesting  them  to  call  at  his  room,  as 
he  desired  to  see  them  on  special  business.  The  members,  who 
understood  the  whole  game,  would  smile  when  receiving  these 
messages  from  the  old  man,  and  would  make  haste  to  grant  his 
request.  After  he  had  seen  them  they  would  come  back  to  their 
seats  entirely  transformed  relative  to  the  election  of  United  States 
Senator,  and  after  one  night-calling  had  passed,  the  next  day  a 
motion  was  made  to  indefinitely  postpone  the  whole  proceeding 
as  to  the  election  of  Senator,  which  was  adopted  by  a  unani- 
mous vote.      Those  who  had  been  foremost  in  denouncing  the 


98  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

election  of  Gilbert  and  declaring  that  he  was  elected  by  bribery, 
could  now  be  heard  to  say  that  his  election  was  fair  and  honest. 
They  came  near  breaking  the  old  man,  and  just  before  he  left 
Tallahassee  he  said  to  one  of  his  friends,  '*  surely  I  have  fallen 
into  a  den  of  thieves."  Men  who  came  to  the  capital  with 
scarcely  money  enough  to  pay  their  fare  on  the  railroad  could 
now  be  seen  with  rolls  of  money,  evidently  extracted  from  Gil- 
bert, and  they  were  of  that  portion  of  the  carpet-baggers  who 
were  interested  in  the  impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed. 

The  committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  acts  and  doings 
of  Governor  Reed  on  the  26th  day  of  January  appeared  at  the 
bar  of  the  House  and  made  their  report.  There  was  a  majority 
and  a  minority  report.  The  first  charge  against  Reed  was  that 
he  had  received  five  hundred  dollars  to  appoint  a  person  clerk 
of  the  court  of  Leon  county,  which  the  evidence  showed  was 
not  true,  but  that  the  money  was  contributed  to  pay  the  indebted- 
ness incurred  by  the  central  committee  in  the  election  campaign. 
The  second  charge  was  that  a  balance  of  six  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  dollars  and  sixty-three  cents  in  United  States 
currency,  proceeds  of  Virginia  and  other  State  bonds,  sold  under 
an  act  authorizing  the  Governor  of  the  State  to  raise  funds  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  this  session  of  the  Legislature,  had  been 
used  by  the  Governor  and  State  scrip  substituted  for  it.  This 
scrip  was  receivable  for  all  State  dues,  while  the  cash  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  carry  on  the  State  government  then  in  its 
infancy  and  opposed  by  foes  without  and  pretended  friends 
within.  The  same  witness  who  made  the  charge  relative  to  the 
Leon  county  clerkship  presented  another  to  the  committee  that 
Governor  Reed  had,  through  a  friend,  offered  to  give  him  a 
contract  to  make  a  set  of  maps  for  the  Surveyor-General's  office  if 
he  would  change  his  base  and  go  in  and  work  to  prevent  impeach- 
ment. This  a  portion  of  the  committee  treated  as  manu- 
factured evidence,  and  consequently  untrustworthy.  The 
majority  re^)ort  of  the  committee  did  not  make  any  recommenda- 
tion. It  was  signed  by  George  P.  Raney,  Democrat;  F.  N.  B. 
Oliver,  Democrat;  John  Varnum,  Republican;  Henry  S.  Har- 
mon, Republican;  and  E.  Fortune,  Republican.  The  minor- 
ity report  was  signed  by  E.  J.  Harris  and  Auburn  Erwin, 
Republicans,  and  exonerated  Governor  Reed  from  the  charges. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


99 


The  Democrats  were  in  doubt  what  to  do ;  they  did  not  want  to 
commit  themselves  to  Reed,  nor  did  they  want  to  help  the 
plunderers,  so  they  sat  and  watched  the  drift  of  things.  Several 
resolutions  and  motions  were  made  reflecting  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Governor.  The  ring  worked  long  and  hard,  and  at 
first  thought  they  would  succeed;  but  when  they  saw  H.  S. 
Harmon  and  £.  Fortune,  colored  members,  who  had  signed  the 
majority  report,  voting  to  exonerate  him,  they  gave  up  the 
sport.  The  following  resolution  was  offered  by  Mr.  E.  Fortune, 
member  of  the  investigating  committee: 

"Whereas,  The  committee  appointed  on  the  6th  day  of 
January  to  inquire  into  and  investigate  the  conduct,  acts  and 
doings  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  has,  pursuant 
to  instructions,  reported  the  results  of  its  investigations  to  this 
body,  accompanied  with  the  testimony  taken  in  the  said  matter; 
therefore  be  it 

' '  Resolved  by  the  Assembly  of  Florida^  That  the  said  Assembly 
finds  nothing  in  said  report  or  testimony  justifying  an  impeach- 
ment of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida." 

This  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  forty-three  to 
five,  every  member  of  the  committee  voting  for  it,  and  but  one 
colored  member  voted  in  the  negative.  This  committee  was 
the  creation  of  the  ring,  which  shows  how  flimsy  the  testimony 
against  the  Governor  was^  and  how  desperate  they  were  in  their 
determination  to  remove  him  from  between  them  and  the  people's 
money.  Osborn,  who  had  now  come  down  from  Washington, 
and  was  sitting  in  the  hall  when  this  vote  was  taken,  swore 
vengeance  as^ainst  every  Republican  who  voted  to  exonerate 
Reed ;  but  his  carpetbag  friends  gave  him  to  understand  that  all 
the  negroes  and  Democrats  had  agreed  to  exonerate  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  that  had  they  voted  against  him  when  they  saw  he 
would  be  exonerated,  it  would  have  had  the  effect  of  driving  all 
the  negroes  to  him  and  the  Democrats,  which  action  would  have 
soon  lifted  them  out  of  their  fat  places.  The  ring  now  called 
a  caucus  in  the  Senate  chamber  and  pretended  to  make  friends 
with  the  Governor  and  to  support  his  administration.  Chief 
Osborn  was  present  and  assured  him  that  he  was  very  sorry  that 
this  attempt  at  impeachment  had  been  made,  and  that  he  was 
misled  in  the  matter,    and  if  the  Governor    would  correspond 


lOO  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

with  him  in  Washington  no  one  should  be  appointed  to  a  Federal 
office  who  was  not  friendly  to  his  administration.  Many 
speeches  were  made  by  the  members  of  the  ring,  assuring  the 
Governor  that  from  that  time  forth  Osborn  and  his  friends  would 
stand  by  him.  Most  of  the  carpet-baggers  then  in  the  Legislature 
were  holding  State  offices  by  commission  from  Gov.  Reed,  and 
this  agreement  was  made  by  Osborn  and  his  followers  so  as  to  hold 
on  to  the  State  offices  as  well  as  the  Federal  offices  which  had  been 
given  them  by  the  latter.  This  worked  well  for  a  time.  Hon, 
C.  H.  Pearce,  who  had  succeeded  in  rallying  the  colored  members 
of  the  Legislature  to  the  Governor,  was  very  severe  on  the  con- 
spirators, and  threatened  to  alienate  the  colored  voters  from  the 
carpet-baggers  if  this  persecution  of  Reed  was  continued.  Reed 
appeared  to  be  quite  indifferent  as  to  promises  made  by  Osborn 
&  Co.,  and  asked  the  colored  men  in  the  caucus  to  stand  by  him 
if  they  believed  he  was  trying  to  give  the  State  an  honest  admin- 
istration. After  further  assurances  by  the  members  of  the  ring 
that  Reed  should  be  supported,  the  caucus  adjourned  si?te  die. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Meeting  of  the  Extraordinary  Session  of  the  Legislature  of  i86g. 
Governor  Reed's  Recommendations.      The   Four  Millions  of 
Bonds   Scheme.       Colored  Meembers   Playing  Carpet-bagger. 
The  Grand  Jury  Hunting  Bribe-takers. 

On  the  17th  of  May,  1869,  Governor  Reed  issued  his  proc- 
lamation convening  the  Legislature  in  extraordinary  session  for 
the  following  purposes,  to-wit :  "To  maintain  the  credit  of  the 
State  and  provide  for  the  means  of  defraying  its  current 
expenses.  That  the  recent  sale  of  the  Pensacola  and  Georgia 
Railroad  and  the  Tallahassee  Railroad  rendered  immediate  legis- 
lation necessary  to  protect  the  public  interest  and  enable  the 
purchasers  to  provide  for  the  extension  and  completion  of  their 
roads  and  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  Internal  Improve- 
ment Laws  of  the  State ;  and  to  ratify  the  Fifteenth  Amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

In  compliance  with  this  proclamation,  the  two  houses  of  the 
Legislature  met  at  12  o'clock  m.  on  the  8th  day  of  June  and 
received  the  Governor's  Message.  The  Governor  recommended, 
among  other  things  which  were  not  mentioned  in  his  proclama- 
tion, the  passage  of  a  proper  quarantine  law  to  protect  our 
coast;  a  tenure  of  office  law,  so  as  to  get  rid  of  delinquent  or 
unfaithful  officers  when  the  Senate  was  not  in  session,  which 
officers  could  not  then  be  removed  without  the  consent  of  the 
Senate ;  and  a  law  prohibiting  common  carriers  from  making 
distinction  on  account  of  color.  In  conclusion,  the  Governor 
said: 

"Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  the  new  era  of  prosperity 
which  has  opened  upon  our  State,  and  the  auspicious  circum- 
stances under  which  you  now  assemble.  In  all  parts  of  the 
State,  peace,  security,  harmony  and  prosperity  prevail  to  a 
greater  extent  than  at  any  time  within  the  past  ten  years.  Cap- 
ital is  more  profitably  invested ;  life  and  property  are  better 
protected.  Let  passion  and  prejudice  give  place  to  reason  and 
judgment,  and  let  wisdom  and  prudence  control  your  counsels, 


I02  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

while  we  render  grateful  homage   to  the  great   dispenser  of  all 
good  for  His  innumerable  blessings." 

Several  important  acts  were  passed  by  this  Legislature, 
among  which  were  the  law  setting  aside  a  homestead  for  each 
head  of  a  family ;  an  amendment  of  the  school  laws ;  impor- 
tant changes  in  the  revenue  laws ;  and  the  notorious  act  ' '  To 
Perfect  the  Public  Works  of  the  State."  From  the  presence 
of  an  unusual  lobby  it  was  apparent  that  some  great  catastro- 
phe was  to  take  place  in  the  shape  of  a  law.  The  carpetbag  ele- 
ment seemed  to  be  elated,  and  the  hotels  and  boarding-houses 
in  the  city  were  filled  with  strangers.  The  poorest  and  the 
most  shabby  carpet-bagger  could  be  seen  drinking  the  sparkling 
champagne  and  wearing  fine  beavers.  The  famous  Littlefield 
was  too  much  engaged  to  walk,  and  his  carriage  was  kept  at  the 
hotel  in  readiness  to  convey  him  to  any  part  of  the  city  to  see 
the  different  members  of  the  Legislature. 

The  Governor  was  privately  advised  that  Osborn's  United 
States  Marshal,  Senator  Wentworth,  had  been  furnished  with  a 
thousand  dollars  with  which  to  secure  votes  for  Littlefield. 
Alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  corrupt  legislation,  he  telegraphed 
Mr.  Swepson,  the  purchaser  of  the  railroads,  and  whom  Little- 
field represented,  to  come  to  Tallahassee.  In  reply,  General 
Abbott,  United  States  Senator  from  North  Carolina,  appeared 
for  Swepson  and  pledged  the  Governor  that  no  more  money 
should  be  used,  and  no  legislation  but  what  was  legitimate 
should  be  sought.  He  called  in  General  Littlefield  to  witness 
the  pledge,  stating  that  the  money  to  Wentworth  was  only  for 
the  furnishing  a  reception  room  at  the  hotel.  After  remaining  a 
few  days,  General  Abbott,  still  assuring  the  Governor  that  the 
company  would  act  in  good  faith  and  allow  no  more  money 
to  be  expended,  then  returned  home;  but,  notwithstanding 
these  assurances,  and  pledges,  within  ten  days  twenty-two  thou- 
sand dollars  were  distributed  by  Littlefield  as  a  corruption  fund 
for  the  Osborn  ring,  to  control  the  Legislature  against  Governor 
Reed,  with  a  view  of  ultimately  deposing  him. 

The  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Wentworth,  of 
Escambia,  and  referred  to  a  committee,  which  reported  favor- 
ably on   it.     There    were  important  amendments    made  to  the 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  I03 

bill  by  Senator  John  A.  Henderson,  of  Hillsborough  County. 
There  were  lots  of  members  whom  Littlefild  had  not  ''seen 
privately,"  and  these  would  denounce  the  bill  as  a  great  swindle, 
but  after  a  visit  from  him  and  a  ''private  talk,"  they  would 
either  vote  yes  on  every  amendment  or  not  vote  at  all,  and 
would  offer  no  further  resistance  to  the  scheme.  The  incorpo- 
rators of  this  measure  were  General  M.  S.  Littlefield,  George 
W.  Swepson,  J.  P.  Sanderson,  J.  L.  Requa,  and  William  H. 
Hunt ;  the  last  a  Senator  from  Dade  County,  and  Gleason's 
partner.  State  aid  was  to  be  given  at  the  rate  of  twelve 
thousand  dollars  per  mile,  which,  according  to  the  length  of  the 
route,  would  amount  to  four  millions  of  dollars.  This  bill  was 
passed  by  the  Senate  without  a  dissenting  vote,  some  few  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  being  either  absent  or  influenced  from  voting. 
In  the  Assembly  the  measure  was  passed  with  only  three  dissent- 
ing votes.  As  to  bribery  of  any  of  the  members  to  secure  the  pas- 
sage of  this  measure,  I  shall  only  state  what  occurred  and  leave  the 
reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusions :  A  carpetbag  Senator  received 
a  sight  draft  on  the  General  the  night  before  the  passage  of  the 
bill.  What  that  draft  was  for  I  am  unable  to  say.  The  draft  was 
presented  to  the  General  the  next  morning,  who  took  it,  read  it, 
then  tore  it  up, telling  him  at  the  same  time,  "This  is  all  right,  this 
is  all  right."  The  Senator  undertook  to  insist  on  its  payment, 
but  the  General  began  to  talk  so  very  loud  about  the  matter  that 
the  Senator  walked  off  cursing  him,  but  in  very  low  tones.  The 
colored  members  of  the  Legislature  who  had  heretofore  been 
content  with  the  salary  which  was  provided  by  the  Constitution 
as  their  pay  now  began  to  learn  something  of  the  meandering 
ways  of  their  carpetbag  leaders.  They  began  to  inquire  how 
their  white  brethren  could  handle  so  much  money,  when  they 
got  no  more  pay  than  they  did.  Some  of  the  Democrats  who  were 
not  members  of  the  Legislature  informed  them  that  their  carpet- 
bag friends  from  the  different  counties  had  traded  on  their  votes 
in  the  Legislature  ever  since  they  had  been  permitted  to  sit  in 
the  Legislature  as  members.  The  colored  members,  from  this 
information,  began  to  hold  separate  caucuses,  and  finally  they 
elected  a  permanent  chairman  of  the  caucus,  and  that  chairman 
appointed  a  committee  of  three  to  ferret  out  all  schemes  which 
looked    anything  like    money  schemes.     This  committee    was 


I04  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Styled  "the  smelling  committee."  The  duty  of  this  committee 
was  to  visit  the  hotels  and  private  rooms  of  the  carpetbag  mem- 
bers and  ascertain,  as  best  they  could,  whether  there  was  any- 
thing or  things,  measure  or  measures  before,  or  likely  to  come 
before  the  Legislature  at  that  session  which  the  carpetbag  brother 
could  make  money  from,  and  if  so  to  report  the  same  to  the 
caucus.  This  committee  was  not  to  proceed  in  a  body,  but  each 
man  was  to  gather  the  facts  as  he  could  get  them  and  report  to 
the  caucus  in  a  body.  The  chairman  of  the  caucus  was  empow- 
ered to  inform  any  party  or  parties  who  were  in  need  of  votes  in 
the  Legislature  to  pass  measures,  the  number  of  votes  that  could 
be  had  and  the  amount  required  to  satisfy  the  members  of  the 
caucus.  When  any  money  was  received  from  this  source  it  was 
to  be  equally  divided  among  the  members.  This  plan  worked 
for  some  time  but  no  money  was  forthcoming.  All  information 
that  could  be  gathered  by  the  committee  was  reported  to  the 
chairman  of  the  caucus,  who  would  report  what  the  measures 
sought  to  be  passed  were,  and  advised  the  members  of  the  cau- 
cus to  vote  for  them,  yet  he  never  reported  any  money.  The 
members  began  to  perceive  that  the  chairman  was  getting  very 
flush  with  money,  and  they  naturally  became  suspicious  that  he 
was  playing  carpet-bagger  on  them.  A  meeting  was  called  and 
charges  presented  against  the  chairman  for  not  having  paid  over 
moneys  received  by  him  for  the  benefit  of  members  of  the  cau- 
cus. He  at  first  stubbornly  denied  having  received  any  moneys 
for  the  caucus,  but  a  party  who  had  given  him  money  for  the 
caucus,  finding  his  measure  fought  in  the  Legislature  by  members 
of  the  caucus,  found  fault  with  some  of  them,  who  said  they  had 
never  received  any  money  from  the  chairman.  The  note 
in    which    the    complaint     was    conveyed    was    to    the    effect 

that  he  had  made    "the  boys"  a  present  of dollars  which 

he  had  handed  to  Mr.  S.  The  chairman  having  been  con- 
victed of  the  charge,  now  declared  that  the  money  was  made 
a  present  to  him  individually,  and  refused  to  make  a  division. 
This  broke  up  the  caucus  arrangement,  and  after  that  time  each 
member  struck  out  for  himself.  All  the  colored  members  of  the 
Legislature  did  not  belong  to  this  caucus,  but  at  least  two-thirds 
of  them  did.  This  extra  session  adjourned  on  the  23d  of 
June. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I05 

In  the  fall  of  1869  the  grand  jury  of  Leon  County  attempted 
to  inquire  into  the  reported  bribery  of  the  members  of  the  Leg- 
islature. It  was  believed  that  Littlefield,  when  he  first  arrived 
in  the  State  deposited  his  money  in  the  Freedman's  Savings  Bank 
in  Jacksonville.  The  grand  jury  issued  a  subpoena  duces  tecum 
to  the  cashier  of  the  Tallahassee  Bank,  which  compelled  him 
to  appear  before  the  jury  and  bring  the  books  and  papers  belong- 
ing to  that  institution.  The  books  and  papers  showed  that  a 
large  number  of  the  carpetbag  members  of  the  Legislature  had 
received  drafts  from  M.  S.  Littlefield,  payable  at  this  bank, 
which  drafts  had  been  collected.  The  drafts  to  the  different 
members  ran  all  the  way  up  from  two  thousand  to  five  and  six 
thousand  dollars  to  each  member.  No  white  man  got  less  than 
two  thousand  dollars.  The  books  further  showed  that  only  two 
colored  members  received  drafts,  and  these  two  fell  away  down 
into  the  hundreds — receiving  five  hundred  dollars  each. 

As  the  drafts  did  not  show  what  this  money  was  paid  for  it 
was  thought  by  the  prosecuting  officer  that  indictments  for 
bribery  could  not  be  sustained.  Therefore,  no  true  bills  were 
found.  See  stub  of  blank  draft  book,  Freedman's  Savings  Bank 
and  Trust  Company,  Tallahassee,  Fla. 

Although  no  bills  were  found  at  this  term,  the  Ring  secured 
the  indictment  of  C.  H.  Pearce,  colored,  a  Senator  from  the 
Eighth  Senatorial  District,  in  the  fall  of  1876,  by  the  grand  jury  of 
Leon  County,  for  offering  a  bribe  to  Fred  Hill,  colored,  of  the 
Seventh  Senatorial  District.  The  circumstances  of  the  case  were 
as  follows  :  Littlefield  requested  Pearce  to  inform  Hill  that  he 
could  get  five  hundred  dollars  to  vote  for  Littlefield's  four  mil- 
lion bond  bill.  Pearce  delivered  the  message,  which,  however, 
Litdefield  did  not  intend  to  fulfill,  as  he  had  already  secured  a 
sufficient  number  of  votes  to  pass  the  bill.  Pearce  afterwards 
denied  having  carried  the  message,  but  said  that  Hill  had  got 
the  message  from  some  carpet-bagger,  and  afterwards  asked  him 
about  the  matter,  when  he  was  told  what  Littlefield  had  said. 
The  impeachers,  who  had  grown  fat  from  the  lavish  hand  of 
Littlefield,  deemed  this  a  splendid  opportunity  to  cripple  Pearce 
for  life,  and  insisted  that  Hill,  who  was  one  of  Stearns'  submis- 
sive tools,  should  report  the  matter  to  the  grand  jury.  Harry 
Cruse,  another  submissive  and  obedient  servant  of  Stearns,  was 


I06  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

pitched  upon  as  a  witness  to  the  delivery  of  the  message.  No 
one  ever  believed  (who  understood  the  game)  that  Cruse  knew 
anything  about  the  matter  until  requested  to  testify,  so  as  to  get 
Pearce  out  of  the  way  before  the  impeachment  of  Governor 
Reed,  which  was  to  take  place  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
The  real  bribe-takers,  the  men  who  had  in  their  pockets  five  and 
six  thousand  dollars  each  of  Littlefield's  money,  were  now  hiring 
men  to  swear  away  the  liberty  of  Pearce,  that  his  hold  upon  the 
colored  voter  might  be  broken.  Littlefield,  the  man  who  offered 
the  bribe,  if  it  could  be  considered  an  attempt  at  bribery,  was 
not  arrested,  nor  did  the  grand  jury  which  indicted  Pearce  for  car- 
rying the  message,  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  Littlefield  in  the 
premises.  Stearns,  after  the  indictment  was  found,  smiled  as 
gracefully  over  the  downfall  of  Pearce  as  he  afterwards  smiled 
over  the  consummation  of  various  election  frauds. 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Piirman- Hamilton  Reig?t  of  Terror  in  Jackson  County. 

And  here  opens  a  scene  of  oppression  and  usurpation  of 
power  which  is  equally  diabolical  in  many  instances  with  the 
reign  of  "  Bloody  Mary."  There  was  no  portion  of  the  State 
more  disturbed  by  the  operations  of  the  reconstruction  measures 
of  1868  than  Jackson  County.  The  two  races  became  arrayed 
against  each  other  in  deadly  hostility,  which  led  to  frequent 
occurrences  of  violence  and  bloodshed.  This  state  of  things 
was  not  due  to  the  enmity  of  the  whites  to  the  blacks,  nor  their 
opposition  to  the  new  law  enfranchising  the  latter — though  they 
were  opposed  to  it,  of  course — nor  was  it  due  to  any  natural  bad 
temper  or  hatred  of  the  whites  on  the  part  of  the  colored  people, 
for  under  ordinary  circumstances  there  are  no  more  peaceable 
people  in  the  world  than  the  inhabitants  of  Jackson  County,  of 
both  colors,  and  they  would  have  passed  through  the  ordeal  of 
reconstruction  without  a  jar  or  disturbance,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  evil  influence  of  the  very  men  who  were  delegated  to  preserve 
peace,  to  administer  justice,  and  to  promote  good  fellowship  and 
kindly  relations  between  the  freedmen  and  their  former  owners. 

Charles  M.  Hamilton  and  William  J.  Purman  were  sent  to 
Marianna  as  agents  of  the  Freedman's  Bureau  in  1866,  and  if 
the  purpose  of  the  head  of  that  department  of  the  government 
had  been  to  establish  a  reign  of  terror  over  the  people  of  that 
county  he  could  not  have  selected  more  fitting  instruments. 
Hamilton,  though  afterwards  a  member  of  Congress,  was  a  man 
of  very  ordinary  capacity,  but  possessed  courage  and  will  power 
in  a  high  degree.  Purman,  as  has  been  said,  was  a  man  of 
unusual  ability — shrewd,  eloquent  and  persuasive,  and  with  per- 
fect knowledge  of  the  character  and  prejudices  of  the  colored 
man  at  that  time,  and  also  with  a  hidden  contempt  for  his  igno- 
rance. He  directed  all  the  operations  of  the  Bureau  and  put 
Hamilton  forward  to  do  all  the  dirty  or  dangerous  work.  He 
played  upon  the  weaknesses  and  impulses  of  the  colored  people 
and  drew  from  them   shouts  of  joy,  and  responses  of  applause 


I08  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  ^ 

and  approval  with  the  skill  and  ease  a  master  organist  brings  out 
the  great  swells  of  music  by  a  gentle  touch  of  the  key.  These 
would  occur  when  he  was  eloquently  depicting  to  his  eager  listen- 
ing audiences  the  horrors  of  slavery  and  the  cruelty  and  oppres- 
sion they  had  undergone.  Every  device  was  resorted  to  by 
these  agents  to  embitter  the  colored  man  against  the  white  man ; 
and,  with  the  powers  they  possessed,  it  is  no  wonder  they  suc- 
ceeded upon  material  so  easily  mislead. 

What  incendiary  harangues  failed  to  accomplish  they  sought 
to  do  by  exhibitions  of  their  power  over  the  whites,  which  they 
displayed  in  frequent  acts  of  the  grossest  tyrann}\  They  set  at 
defiance  the  orders  and  decrees  of  the  courts  of  justice  when  the 
matters  involved  were  mere  questions  of  right  between  two  citi- 
zens, neither  of  whom  were  freedmen.  They  arrested  and 
imprisoned  peaceable  citizens  without  any  real  cause,  and  refused 
to  furnish  them  or  their  counsel  with  the  charges  upon  which 
they  were  held.  On  one  occasion  they  had  brought  before  them 
two  young  ladies  of  the  highest  respectability  on  the  charge  of 
removing  flowers  from  a  Union  soldier's  grave,  who  protested 
their  innocence  and  offered  to  prove  it  without  the  insult  and 
humiliation  of  being  arraigned  at  bureau  headquarters,  but  their 
appeals  were  in  vain,  and  they  were  forced  to  appear  and  stand 
up  and  unveil  themselves  in  the  presence  of  Hamilton  to  answer 
the  charge,  which  no  witness  could  be  found  to  sustain. 

Among  their  duties  as  agents  of  the  Freedman's  Bureau,  was 
the  supervising  of  labor  contracts  between  the  freedmen  and 
their  employers.  For  this  service  they  charged  each  freedman 
twenty-five  cents  and  the  employer  fifty  cents.  An  enterprising 
and  intelligent  citizen  of  the  county,  happening  in  Washington, 
called  upon  General  Howard,  the  head  of  the  bureau,  and  inquired 
of  him  if  his  agents  were  allowed  to  do  such  things.  The  General 
informed  him  they  were  not,  and  requested  him  to  furnish  him 
with  evidence  of  its  being  done  in  any  case.  Thereupon  the 
gentleman  prepared  and  ])Osted  notices  requesting  those  who 
had  receipts  for  moneys  so  paid  to  present  them  to  him,  or,  in 
his  absence,  to  a  designated  agent.  This  gentleman  and  his 
agent  were  immediately  arrested  and  kept  in  confinement  with- 
out charges  being  preferred  against  them  until  one  of  them  was 
taken  dangerously  ill,  when  they  were  discharged  out  of  fear  of 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I09 

the  consequences.  Four  young  farmers,  who  worked  a  large 
number  of  freedmen  under  a  contract  approved  and  ratified  by 
these  agents,  were  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  doing  what  was 
provided  in  said  contract,  and  without  any  charges  or  causes 
assigned,  though  the  officers  were  repeatedly  requested  to  furnish 
them.  The  men  were  discharged  at  the  pleasure  of  the  agents 
of  the  bureau.  Many  other  minor  acts  might  be  mentioned 
showing  a  persistent  determination  to  alienate  the  races  and 
breed  strife. 

These  deeds  of  tyranny  and  oppression  were  resorted  to  for 
the  double  purpose  of  demonstrating  their  power  to  the  colored 
people  and  of  humiliating  the  whites.  Of  course  they  bore  their 
legitimate  fruit  and  naturally  awakened  feelings  of  the  bitterest 
hostility  among  the  people  who  were  the  victims  of  such  injus- 
tice and  insult.  While  the  colored  people  were  not  responsible 
for  these  misdeeds,  they  were  inevitably  drawn  into  the  troubles 
which  enjued  and  doubtless  encouraged  to  commit  the  first  act 
of  bloodshed  which  opened  that  eventful  chapter  in  the  history 
of  Jackson  County. 

In  the  fall  of  1868  a  man  by  the  name  of  McGriff,  residing 
near  Port  Jackson,  had  a  difficulty  with  some  of  his  colored 
employes  and  the  matter  in  dispute,  which  became  angry,  was 
referred  to  the  Bureau  by  McGriff;  but  he  obtained  no  satisfac- 
tion. A  few  nights  thereafter  he  was  shot  in  his  house  and 
wounded.  He  left  for  Alabama  and  sent  a  man  by  the  name  of 
McDaniel  to  take  charge  of  his  place.  In  a  short  time  McDaniel 
was  called  to  the  door  at  night  and  shot  dead.  These  acts  were 
traced  directly  to  the  failure  of  these  agents  of  the  Bureau  to 
settle  peaceably  the  trouble  between  McGriff  and  his  employes. 

One  exasperation  followed  close  on  another,  until  the  county 
was  in  a  fever  of  irritation.  In  the  spring  of  1869,  while  Pur- 
man  was  going  to  his  home  in  Marianna  at  night,  in  company 
with  Dr.  John  Finlayson,  they  were  fired  into  by  parties  in 
ambush,  and  the  latter  was  instantly  killed.  Purman  was  shot 
through  the  neck,  but  not  badly.  A  few  days  after  that  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Colliter,  who  had  made  himself  very  obnoxious 
to  the  Bureau  by  his  open  and  bitter  denunciation  of  their  con- 
duct, was  shot  and  killed  in  his  house  at  night  by  unknown 
persons.     From  this  time  on,  during  the  year  1869,  the  whole 


no  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

county  was  in  a  state  of  turmoil.  The  worst  feelings  existed 
between  the  races,  and  nothing  but  the  tact  and  prudence  of 
the  older  and  wiser  heads  on  both  sides  prevented  general 
bloodshed. 

In  September  of  that  year,  while  a  party  of  colored  people 
were  holding  a  picnic  near  the  Natural  Bridge,  they  were  fired 
upon  by  a  party  in  ambush  and  one  man  and  a  child  were 
killed.  This  was  the  occasion  of  arousing  the  blacks  to  the 
highest  state  of  excitement  and  the  bitterest  feelings  of  revenge. 
On  Friday  night  of  the  same  week  a  party  of  white  people  were 
sitting  on  the  piazza  in  front  of  the  hotel  in  Marianna  when  a 
volley  of  shot  was  discharged  at  them  from  the  cover  of  some 
trees  near  by,  and  the  daughter  of  Colonel  McClellan  was 
instantly  killed  and  the  Colonel  himself  badly  wounded.  At 
once  a  large  portion  of  the  county  was  under  arms.  The  greatest 
excitement  prevailed,  and  a  general  massacre  was  threatened. 
Some  of  the  parties  implicated  in  the  shooting  fled  for  their 
lives,  while  others  were  taken  and  speedy  vengeance  visited  upon 
them. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gilbert,  a  colored  minister  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  Jackson  County, 
informed  me  that  Purman,  in  the  League  meetings,  would  advise 
the  people  to  burn  the  gin  houses  and  other  property  of  the 
whites,  and  this  teaching  would  be  reported  to  the  whites  by 
some  members  of  the  League,  and  not  many  nights  after  this 
advice  would  be  given  the  witness  of  a  flaming  gin  house  would 
tell  that  his  advice  had  been  followed.  The  shooting  of 
McClellan  and  daughter  was  the  last  tragic  scene  in  the  drama 
of  reconstruction ;  the  last  act  of  lawlessness  that  can  be  traced 
directly  to  the  administration  of  the  Freedman's  Bureau  in  Jack- 
son County.  It  is  well  to  state  that  while  these  troubles  were  at 
their  worst  the  great  agitators,  Hamilton  and  Purman,  wh6\|iad 
kindled  the  flames  of  discord  and  strife,  absented  themselves 
from  the  county  and  were  sending  incendiary  messages  from  a 
safe  distance. 

Thus  it  was  they  plunged  the  colored  people  unnecessarily 
into  a  vortex  of  trouble  and  left  them  to  work  their  way  out  the 
best  way  they  could. 

Governor    Reed,   whose    administration,    now   reeling    and 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  Ill 

tottering  from  centre  to  circumference  for  want  of  confidence 
abroad  to  purchase  the  State  securities,  by  reason  of  the  repeated 
attempts  at  impeachment,  was  called  upon  by  Purman  and 
others  who  previously  had  joined  with  the  Democrats  to  destroy 
the  Republican  administration,  to  declare  martial  law  in  Jackson 
County.  The  Governor  informed  them  that  if  this  was  done  it 
would  be  the  end  of  Republican  government  in  Florida,  and 
refused  peremptorily.  First,  because  there  were  no  circum- 
stances  that  would  justify  it;  and,  second,  there  were  no  means 
provided  by  which  to  defray  the  expense.  It  was  still  insisted 
on,  when  the  proposition  was  made  that  if  Purman  would  take 
command  a  regiment  should  be  raised.  Of  course  he  declined, 
as  the  Governor  knew  he  would.  The  demand  was  then  laid 
before  the  Republican  State  Executive  Committee,  who  unani- 
mously sustained  it,  and  called  the  Governor  into  council  at 
Jacksonville  to  enforce  the  decree.  He  demonstrated  the  impro- 
priety of  a  resort  to  military  force,  as  well  as  the  utter  impossi- 
bility of  doing  it  for  want  of  means,  and  pledged  himself  to 
maintain  the  peace  of  the  State  by  the  employment  of  a  civil 
police  under  the  existing  law  if  they  would  pledge  themselves 
to  appropriate  the  amount  necessary.  He  was  finally  pledged 
the  support  of  the  committee  to  procure  a  loan  sufficient  to 
defray  the  expense.  On  his  own  personal  responsibility  he 
raised  $3,500  and  appointed  colored  and  white  agencies  to  quiet 
the  misapprehensions  and  allay  the  excitement.  He  sent  as 
commissioners  to  Jackson  County  Dr.  John  Westcott  and  J.  S. 
Adams,  with  authority  to  confer  with  the  people  and  secure 
their  co-operation  in  maintaining  the  civil  law.  These  gentlemen 
immediately  repaired  to  Jackson  County,  and  after  a  thorough 
investigation  reported  that  Purman  and  Hamilton  were  the  cause 
of  all  the  bloodshed  that  had  occurred  in  the  county.  This  state 
of  affairs  furnished  the  opportunity  for  the  desperadoes — that  can 
be  generally  found  in  all  communities  after  the  ravages  of  a  war 
— to  put  in  their  work  without  hindrance.  Dickinson  was 
killed,  it  was  generally  beHeved,  by  the  notorious  Luke  Lott, 
purely  from  an  old  grudge  he  had  against  him ;  but  in  those 
days  every  murder  committed  was  swelled  into  a  political  mur- 
der, and  under  the  then  existing  circumstances  the  true  cause  of 
a  murder  could  not  be  justly  ascribed.     This  was  a  trying   time 


112  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

for  the  true  friends  of  an  honest  RepubUcan  administration ;  and 
it  was  seriously  doubted  by  Governor  Reed  and  the  friends  of 
Repubhcan  government  as  to  whether  he  would  be  able  to  main- 
tain himself;  but  the  Governor,  faithful  to  the  promise  made  in 
his  inaugural  address,  stood  his  ground  against  fearful  odds  until 
the  terrific  storm  of  bitterness  raised  by  Purman  sullenly  but 
gradually  passed  away. 

Purman  now,  who  had  wooed  a  young  lady  of  the  people 
whom  he  had  so  terribly  oppressed  and  whom  he  finally  married, 
was  anxious  to  return  and  reside  in  the  county,  after  things  had 
got  quiet.  He  issued  a  circular  to  different  leading  Republicans 
asking  them  to  attend  a  public  meeting  in  Jackson  County. 
Hon.  J,  C.  Gibbs  was  invited  and  attended  the  meeting.  Ham- 
ilton, the  cats-paw  of  Purman,  accompanied  him.  Large  crowds 
of  whites  and  blacks  assembled,  and  any  one  who  was  present 
need  not  have  been  a  close  observer  to  discern  ''blood  in  the 
eyes"  of  that  crowd.  Purman  attempted  to  speak  and  was 
howled  down  by  the  whites,  with  a  good  sprinkling  of  the  blacks. 
Hamilton  attempted  to  speak,  but  he  was  treated  in  the  same 
manner.  Mr.  Gibbs  was  introduced,  who  spoke  more  than  an 
hour,  and  was  listened  to  with  close  attention  by  the  people. 
He  charged  Purman  and  Hamilton,  in  their  presence,  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  people,  with  having  been  responsible  for  the 
troubles  in  this  county.  Purman  now  saw  that  he  had  been 
caught  in  the  trap  which  he  had  constructed  with  his  own  hands, 
and  called  upon  the  sheriff  to  guard,  protect  and  give  him  safe 
deliverance  from  the  county ;  and  the  very  people  whom  he  had 
oppressed  accompanied  him  across  the  Chattahoochee  river  into 
Gadsden  County,  and  he  returned  to  Tallahassee  as  his  city  of 
refuge. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1870.  Extracts  from  the  Gov- 
ernor's Message.  Attempt  to  Force  Old  Man  Gilbert,  United 
States  Senator,  to  Come  Down  With  More  Cash.  Schemes  of 
Plunder.  The  Third  Attempt  at  Inipeachment — its  hicidents 
and  Results.  Bloxham  Coftfronts  the  Ring.  Carpetbaggers 
Teaching  the  Freedmen  Their  Idea  of  Free  Citizenship.  Blox- 
ham Elected  and  Counted  Out.  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of 
1871. 

The  Legislature  met  on  the  fourth  day  of  January,  1870, 
this  being  the  third  regular  session  under  the  Constitution  of 
1868.  There  being  no  quorum  present  the  two  Houses 
adjourned  until  next  day,  when  they  met  and  organized,  and 
notified  the  Governor  that  they  were  ready  to  receive  any  com- 
munication he  would  be  pleased  to  make.  At  12  o'clock  m. 
the  two  Houses  met  in  joint  session  and  received  the  Governor's 
message,  which  was  admitted,  even  by  his  enemies,  to  be  a 
very  able  one.  A  large  crowd  of  lobbyists  was  on  hand,  as 
usual,  to  aid  in  getting  through  corrupt  measures,  they  knowing 
what  material  they  had  to  treat  with  in  the  Legislature.  The 
Governor  said  that  "during  no  period  in  the  history  of  the 
State  has  there  been  moje  marked  improvement  and  general 
prosperity  than  in  the  year  just  passed,  and  never  have  the  laws 
been  more  generally  and  efficiently  executed.  In  several 
counties  organized  bands  of  lawless  men  have  combined  to 
override  the  civil  authorities,  and  many  acts  of  violence  have 
occurred;  but  these  have  been  incidental  to  the  State  in  all  its 
past  history,  and  arise  less,  perhaps,  from  special  enmity  to  the 
present  form  of  government  than  from  opposition  to  the 
restraints  of  law  in  general.  When  we  consider  what  has  been 
accomplished  towards  the  establishment  of  equal  laws  and  the 
acknowledgment  of  equal  rights  within  the  brief  time  since 
Republican  government  has  been  inaugurated,  I  think  we  find 
little  cause  for  complaint,  and  less  cause  to  reflect  upon  either 
the  form   of  government  or  its    official  exponent.      The  chief 


114  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

executive  and  judicial  departments  of  the  government  have  been 
tested  in  a  manner  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  civil  govern- 
ment, and  have  stood  that  trial  in  such  a  way  as  to  afford  assur- 
ance of  future  integrity  and  to  command  the  respect  of  the  people. 
Every  weak  point  in  the  New  Constitution  has  been  taken 
advantage  of,  by  parties  who  contributed  to  the  formation  of 
that  instrument  to  bring  dishonor  upon  the  administration  and 
the  State.  Conspiracies  have  been  formed  to  secure  the  control 
of  the  financial  and  railroad  policy  of  the  State  in  the  interest  of 
corrupt  men,  and  to  render  the  government  subservient  to  the 
pecuniary  aggrandizement  of  a  few  at  the  expense  of  the  best 
interests  of  the  State  and  people.  As  the  representatives  of  those 
interests,  many  of  you,  for  the  first  time,  are  admitted  to  the 
rights  of  freemen.  You  have  thus  far  resisted  these  extraordi- 
nary efforts  to  mislead,  intimidate  or  subsidize  you  from  the  path 
of  duty,  and  you  have  preserved  the  State  from  the  incubus  of 
a  corrupt  and  corrupting  power,  which  has  fastened  itself  upon 
so  many  of  the  States  now  struggling  to  rise  from  the  ruins  of 
war.  We  received  the  high  trust  now  held  by  us  with  the  State 
desolated  by  seven  years  of  anarchy  and  misrule,  v/ith  an  empty 
treasury,  with  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  acknowledged 
debt,  and  a  much  larger  amount  repudiated  and  hanging  like  a 
cloud  upon  our  financial  escutcheon,  with  bonds  dishonored  by 
years  of  neglected  interest,  with  a  school  fund  robbed  of  its  last 
dollar  to  aid  in  a  war  upon  the  republic,  with  a  railroad  system 
half  completed,  bankrupted  and  at  the  mercy  of  an  adjoining 
State ;  with  revenue  laws  inadequate  to  the  current  expenses  of 
the  government,  and  which  contemplated  no  payment  of  inter- 
est upon  the  State  debt;  with  no  schools  or  school  system;  no 
benevolent  institutions,  no  alms-houses,  no  penitentiary,  and 
scarcely  a  jail.  Such  was  the  inheritance  bequeathed  to  us  by 
the  fortunes  of  war,  and  under  such  incumbrances  we  were 
required  to  establish  and  maintain  a  republican  government, 
under  which  master  and  slave,  whose  relations  had  changed 
from  the  results  of  war,  were  to  yield  obedience  to  the  same  law 
and  be  entitled  to  the  same  privileges." 

The  Governor  said  that  George  J.  Alden,  late  Secretary  of 
State,  stands  indebted  to  the  amont  of  $1,284  ^or  commissions, 
as  appears  on  record  in  the  Secretary's  office. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  II5 

The  Legislature  had  been  in  session  some  twelve  or  fifteen 
days,  and  money  did  not  seem  to  be  so  plentiful  as  in  the  last 
session,  so  something  must  be  don©  to  make  business  brisk. 
John  W.  Butler,  of  Santa  Rosa  county,  who  was  capable  of  lead- 
ing any  corrupt  measure,  was  fixed  upon  as  the  proper  man  to 
face  the  public  with  an  absurdity.  A  resolution  was  pushed 
through  the  Assembly  for  the  election  of  United  States  Senator 
for  the  term  commencing  March  4,  1869.  Old  man  Gilbert  was 
telegraphed  to  as  to  what  had  transpired;  but  the  old  man,  now 
secure  in  his  seat,  paid  no  attention  to  this  money-making 
scheme.  He  had  passed  through  the  mill  twice,  and  understood 
the  game.  The  Senate  refused  to  join  the  Assembly  in  this 
farce,  which  bothered  the  originators  considerably;  but  they 
were  equal  to  the  occasion.  The  notorious  Purman  made  his 
appearance  in  the  Assembly  and  asked  to  be  heard,  but  the 
speaker  decided  that  he  could  not  be  heard  without  the  consent 
of  the  body,  the  two  Houses  not  being  in  joint  session.  Eight 
Democratic  Senators  were  allowed  to  record  their  vote  for  O. 
B.  Hart,  Republican,  and  one  Republican  for  David  L.  Yulee, 
whereupon  Hart  was  declared  elected  United  States  Senator, 
and  the  Assembly  adjourned  until  the  next  day.  The  Democrats 
had  no  faith  in  the  election,  but  determined  to  make  the  thing 
as  ridiculous  as  possible.  Hart  spent  some  money  to  secure  his 
elective  bauble,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  Washington  to  contest 
the  seat  of  Gilbert,  but  the  United  States  Senate  refused  to 
entertain  his  contest,  and  so  he  was  caught  out  several  hundred 
dollars  by  these  plunder-hunters. 

The  Internal  Improvement  Board  had  disposed  of  one 
million  one  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  to  the  New  York 
and  Florida  Lumber,  Land  and  Improvement  Company,  for  ten 
cents  per  acre,  on  condition  of  putting  actual  settlers  for  each 
half  section  and  opening  an  immigration  office  in  New  York  and 
establishing  agencies  in  foreign  countries.  The  plunderers 
believed  this  to  be  a  rich  company,  and  were  determined  to  have 
a  hand  in  the  sale.  While  some  of  the  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature were  honest,  and  desired  to  protect  the  interests  of  the 
people,  the  great  majority  of  the  so-called  white  Republicans 
made  it  an  object  to  make  money  out  of  every  measure  that 
affected  the  public  purse,  and  however  corrupt  a  measure  might 


Il6  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

be,  and  however  damaging  it  might  have  been  to  tax-payers,  it 
could  be  passed  by  the  Legislature  if  sufficient  money  was  paid 
to  the  leaders  to  appease  their  avarice.  A  resolution  was  intro- 
duced declaring  the  disposing  of  the  lands  of  the  board  of 
Internal  Improvement  to  be  null  and  void,  but  it  was  postponed 
from  day  to  day  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature  before  it 
could  be  adopted  for  the  sole  purpose  of  extorting  money  from 
the  company  to  whom  the  lands  had  been  sold.  It  was  finally 
adopted;  but  had  the  company  thought  the' resolution  was  of 
sufficient  importance  to  prevent  its  passage,  it  never  would  have 
been  adopted.  The  company  had  its  representatives  on  hand, 
who  were  confident  that  this  matter  was  purely  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  courts  and  not  the  Legislature,  and  they,  there- 
fore, paid  no  attention  to  the  resolution.  The  Commissioner  of 
Lands  and  Immigration  reported  the  transactions  of  the  board 
with  reference  to  this  sale  in  answer  to  the  resolution  passed  by 
the  Legislature,  calling  upon  the  board  for  an  explanation,  as 
will  be  seen  by  referring  to  Assembly  journal,  page  8i. 
Schemes  and  counter  schemes  were  introduced  at.  this  session, 
as  in  the  sessions  previous,  to  enrich  the  plunderers. 

On  January  21st  James  D.  Green,  of  Manatee  county, 
introduced  a  resolution  authorizing  a  committee  of  five  to  be 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  acts  and  doings  of  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor  of  Florida,  which  resolution  was  adopted.  Governor 
Reed  also  sent  a  communication  to  the  House  requesting  it  to 
have  an  impartial  committee  appointed  to  investigate  his  official 
acts  and  the  acts  of  several  officers  of  the  government.  M.  L. 
Stearns,  speaker  of  the  Assembly,  appointed  James  D.  Green, 
George  P.  Raney,  John  Simpson,  H.  H.  Forward  and  William 
B.  White  as  said  committee.  While  the  committee  was  engaged 
in  its  investigations  the  members  of  the  Osborn  ring  were  using 
large  quantities  of  bad  whisky,  cigars  and  money  to  influence 
the  colored  members  of  the  Legislature,  regardless  of  testimony, 
to  favor  impeachment.  They  would  call  general  caucuses,  and 
those  of  the  ring,  not  members  of  the  Legislature,  would  be 
invited  into  the  caucuses  and  allowed  to  vote.     At  these  cau- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  II7 

cuses  the  silver-tongued,  but  tyrannical  Purman,  though  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Senate  at  the  time,  would  appear  and 

"  With  smooth  dissimulation  skilled  to  grace 
A  devil's  purpose,  with  an  angel's  face," 

he  would  tell  the  colored  members  how  their  own  race  had  been 
murdered  in  Jackson  county,  and  our  Republican  Governor, 
who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  government,  as  a  father  stands  at 
the  head  of  his  family,  refused  to  declare  martial  law  in  that 
county  and  "  hunt  the  hell-deserving  rebels  down."  He  would 
tell  them  that  he  demanded  the  impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed 
in  the  name  of  the  Republican  party,  in  the  name  of  all  the 
negro  blood  that  had  been  shed  upon  a  thousand  battle-fields  in 
the  late  war.  He  would  appeal  to  their  passions  in  every  way 
imaginable  to  secure  their  votes  for  j^the  impeachment  of  Reed. 
These  appeals  did  well  for  the  moment,  but  they  could  not  bear 
scrutiny.  The  most  of  these  colored  members  had  been  forced 
to  the  opinion  that  if  the  Republican  Government  could  be  main- 
tained in  the  State  it  could  best  be  done  by  the  man  who  was  now 
at  the  head  of  the  government,  and  that  "  it  was  not  safe  to  swap 
horses  while  swimming  the  stream."  They  held  a  caucus  and 
determined  to  await  the  report  of  the  committee.  Some  of  them 
were  promised  to  be  given  so  much  money  after  they  had  voted 
for  impeachment ;  but  they  preferred  to  have  the  money  paid 
before. hand.  The  ring,  fearing  from  the  last  attempt  at 
impeachment,  that  the  colored  brother  would  not  prove  faithful, 
changed  front  and  offered  to  place  the  money  in  the  hands  of 
third  parties,  to  be  delivered  .after  the  vote  was  cast;  but  the 
colored  brother  wanted  no  third  party  in  this  criminal  matter. 
With  doubting  heart  and  palsied  hand  part  of  the  amount 
agreed  upon  was  paid  to  the  colored  brother,  who  now  walks 
off  and  smiles  to  know  that  he  has  got  the  best  of  the  man  who 
so  often  sold  his  vote  in  the  previous  Legislatures.  I  shall  tell 
more  of  the  colored  brother  when  I  get  to  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

During  the  investigations  in  the  acts  and  doings  of  Governor 
Reed  he  appointed  E.  C.  Weeks  as  Lieutenant-Governor.  This 
was  denounced  by  the  ring  as  usurpation  of  power,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  appointment,  with  the 


Il8  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

intention  of  making  that  one  of  the  causes  of  impeachment. 
Weeks,  on  the  next  morning  after  his  appointment,  proceeded 
to  the  Senate  and  attempted  to  preside.  Hon.  John  A.  Hender- 
son, from  Hillsborough  county,  came  to  his  seat  in  the  Senate 
and  saw  Weeks  in  the  president's  chair.  Henderson  said  noth- 
ing until  the  time  arrived  to  call  the  Senate  to  order.  Weeks 
seized  the  gavel  and  undertook  to  call  the  Senate  to  order. 
Henderson,  who  was  aware  that  Weeks  had  been  appointed, 
arose  and  inquired  of  the  other  Senators  as  to  what  that 
was  in  the  president's  chair?  Weeks  responded  that  he  had 
been  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor  by  Governor  Reed,  which 
position  authorized  him  to  preside  over  the  Senate.  The  Senator 
declared  that  the  Senate  would  not  recognize  such  appointment, 
which  position  was  sustained  by  the  Senate.  Weeks  retired  in  good 
order,  and  did  not  return.  He  some  months  after  applied  to  the 
Comptroller  for  his  pay  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  but  the  Comptrol- 
ler refused  to  pay  the  amount  on  the  ground  that  he  w^as  not  legally 
the  Lieutenant-Governor.  Weeks  next  applied  to  the  Supreme 
Court  for  a  mandamus,  compelling  the  payment  of  the  amount, 
and  the  Court  ordered  the  amount  paid,  and  thus  affirmed  the 
validity  of  his  appointment. 

The  4th  day  of  January  was  set  apart  for  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  investigation.  The  author  of  this  work  deems  it 
unwise  to  embody  the  whole  of  the  evidence  and  the  majority 
and  minority  reports,  but  will  give  only  the  strongest  evidence 
against  the  Governor,  suppressing  entirely  the  testimony  of  the 
Governor  himself.  The  strongest  evidence  is  that  of  the  letter, 
exhibit  G,  which' is  embodied  in  the  majority  report,  and  which 
testimony  I  have  copied  verbatim. 

Sherman  Conant  sworn — Saw  a  letter  in  June,  1869,  in  pos- 
session of  General  Littlefield,  at  the  City  Hotel,  in  ^Tallahassee, 
Fla.,  addressed  to  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  purport- 
ing to  have  been  written  by  George  W.  Swepson,  a  true  copy 
of  which  is  hereto  annexed,  marked  Exhibit  G.  The  letter  was 
signed  by  George  W.  Swepson.  I  have  never  had  any  business 
transactions  with  Cieo.  W.  Swepson,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  him  sign 
his  name.  I  saw  in  December  this  same  duplicate  original  let- 
ter, and  at  the  same  time  I  saw  an  instrument  of  writing  purport- 
ing to  convey  in  real  property  in   Florida,  signed  by  George  W. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  II9 

Swepson  to  M.  S.  Littlefield,  to  which  instrument  was  attached 
a  certificate  of  acknowledgement,  under  seal,  to  the  effect  that 
George  W.  Swepson  had  acknowledged  before  such  officer  that 
he  had  executed  such  instrument.  The  signature  to  the  letter 
above  referred  to  and  the  signature  to  the  instrument  of  writing 
last  mentioned  were  in  the  same  handwriting. 

The  committee  conclude  their  report  as  follows: 

''  In  regard  to  Governor  Reed  having  received  money  as  a 
consideration  for  calling  the  special  session  of  the  Legislature, 
which  convened  last  June,  we  find  that  George  W.  Swepson 
wrote  to  Governor  Reed  in  the  following  words  and  figures, 
to-wit: 

(Confidential.) 

''Raleigh,   N.  C.,  May  31,  1869. 

"  Hon.  Harrison  Reed,  Tallahassee,  Fla.: 

"  Dear  Sir — I  regret  'my  inability  to  be  in  your  city  dur- 
ing the  extra  session  of  the  Legislature.  Had  it  been  convened 
on  the  first  of  June,  as  at  first  contemplated,  I  could  have  come. 
As  it  is,  I  cannot.  General  Littlefield  has  the  bill,  etc.,  and  will 
fully  explain  everything  to  you ;  we  expect  him  to  prevent  any 
difficulty  being  made  with  you  by  Osborn's  friends.  I  write 
hastily  and  to  the  point.  You  remember,  when  in  New  York, 
our  agreement  was  this:  You  were  to  call  the  Legislature 
together,  and  use  your  influence  to  have  our  bills  passed  as 
drawn  by  us,  and  if  you  were  successful  in  this  you  were  to 
be  paid  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  out  of 
which'  amount  was  to  be  deducted  the  seventy-five  hundred 
(7500)  dollars  you  have  heretofore  received,  leaving  a  balance 
of  five  thousand  dollars  to  be  paid  at  an  early  day. 

"Should  our  bills  as  drawn  pass,  we  want  you  to  go  to  New 
York  and  sign  and  issue  to  us  the  State  bonds,  and  receive  the 
bonds  of  our  road  in  exchange  for  them. 

"  Any  arrangement  General  Littlefield  may  make  in  this 
matter,  will  be  carried  out  in  good  faith. 

"  Very  truly, 

*  (Signed)  "George  W.  Swepson. 


*NoTE.— It  afterwards  transpired  that  Osborn  visited  Swepson  at  Raleigh  and  pre- 
pared this  letter,  and  pledged  Swepson  that  if  he  would  sign  it  he  should  have  all 
the  legislation  he  wanted,  saying,  "I  control  two-thirds  of  the  members  and  unless 
you  sign  this  you  shall  have  nothing. "  Swepson  had  his  private  secretary-,  Rosen- 
thal, to  copy  the  letter  in  duplicate  and  handed  one  copy  to  Littlefield  to  take  to 
Florida,  where  Conant  was  to  take  charge  T)f  its  execution.  At  the  same  time 
Osborne  received  several  thousand  dollars  from  Swepson  to  insure  success. 


I20  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

"  This  letter  was  sealed  with  private  seal  of  Swepson,  and 
was  delivered  by  General  Milton  S.  Littlefield  to  Governor  Reed 
in  Tallahassee,  a  day  or  two  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  June.  Governor  Reed  did  not  read  this  letter  in  General 
Littlefield's  presence.  No  allusion  to  the  letter  was  ever  made 
by  Governor  Reed  to  General  Littlefield,  until  in  December, 
he  said  to  him  it  was  Mr.  Swepson's  duty  to  correct  the  vile 
slander  of  the  Conant  affidavit,  and  the  newspaper  articles  upon 
it.  We  find  that  General  Littlefield  let  Governor  Reed  have 
several  sums  of  money  during  the  session,  but  they  were  charged 
against  him,  and  what  has  not  been  paid,  is  now  held  in  account 
against  him.  He  further  states  that  he  knows  from  Governor 
Reed's  own  acknowledgment  that  Mr.  Swepson  has  let  Governor 
Reed  have  seventy-five  hundred  dollars,  $2,500  of  which  is 
secured  by  mortgage,  and  the  balance  is  the  $5,000  draft  before 
alluded  to.  This  is  all  we  have  been  able  to  discover  on  this 
point,  except  that  there  was  a  duplicate  original  of  the  letter 
just  recited,  which  was  shown  by  General  Littlefield  to  different 
parties  at  different  times. 

"  In  the  matter  of  the  printing  of  State  bonds,  we  find  there 
was  material  difference  between  the  cost  and  that  of  other  bonds 
subsequently  printed  at  the  same  house  in  New  York.  We  find 
no  evidence  of  any  fraud. 

'*  Reluctantly  it  is  that  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  we 
hold  as  to  our  duty ;  but  in  view  of  the  circumstances,  our  duty 
is  plain,  and  we  therefore  recommend  that  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida,  be  impeached,  and  respectfully  recommend  the 
passage  of  the  accompanying  resolution." 

James  D.  Green,  Chairman, 
Geo.  p.  Raney, 
John  Simpson, 
H.  H.  Forward, 

Resolved  by  the  Assembly,  That  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  mal 
feasance  and  incompetency  in  office. 

Mr.  White,  of  Clay,  from  same  committee,  made  the  follow- 
ing minority  report: 

''After  much  time  and  labor  given  to  taking  of  the  testi- 
mony, still  more  time  has  been  necessary  to  enable  us  to  reach 
any  satisfactory  conclusions,  and  thus  the  report  has  been  de- 
layed. Looking  back  over  the  history  of  the  State  for  the  last 
ten  years,  so  full  of  excitement,  agitation,  and  turmoil,  we  are 
profoundly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  value  of  the  results  of 
the  reconstructive  legislation  of  the  National  Government,  and  its 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  121 


subsequent  result  in  the  organization  of  our  own  State  govern- 
ment. While  we  cannot  claim  that  this  legislation  is  absolutely 
perfect,  or  the  results  to  be  altogether  those  that  may  have  been 
desired,  yet  knowing  well  the  thousand  difficulties  that,  from  the 
peculiar  situation  and  characteristics  of  the  whole  South  would 
necessarily  hang  around  and  embarrass  any  attempt  at  adequate 
legislation  at  the  hand  of  merely  human  law-givers,  we  believe 
that  as  a  whole  the  legislation  of  reconstruction  originated  from 
patriotic  motives,  was  framed  in  a  friendly  spirit,  though  some 
of  its  measures  may  seem  harsh,  and  is  as  well  fitted  to  promote 
the  ultimate  prosperity  of  the  Southern  States,  and  the  well- 
being  of  their  citizens,  as  could  be  hoped  of  any  legislation  that 
could  have  been  expected  under  the  circumstances. 

''It  has  been,  therefore,  with  no  common  regret  that  we 
have  seen,  as  citizens,  the  strength  of  the  State  government 
impaired,  its  character  tarnished,  its  credit  injured,  and  its  power 
for  good  diminished  by  the  multitude  of  charges  and  accusa- 
tions that,  from  whatever  source  coming,  have  actually  been  in 
circulation  against  the  Executive  of  the  State,  and,  as  citizens, 
have  felt  that  the  best  good  of  the  State  and  people,  the  cause 
of  truth  and  justice,  and  the  private  interests  of  the  Executive, 
all  alike  demanded  a  full  investigation  into  the  truth  of  the 
charges  made,  and  an  impartial  and  fearless  award  of  justice  at 
whatever  cost  of  private  feeling  or  party  pride. 

"And  it  was  with  precisely  such  feelings  that,  when  unex- 
pectedly the  duty  of  investigation  devolved  upon  us,  we  entered 
into  the  examination  of  the  charges  made.  We  have  made  the 
examination  with  all  fairness,  justice  and  impartiality,  and 
announce  the  consideration  to  which  we  have  been  irresistably 
led  by  the  testimony  that  has  been  laid  before  us. 

''From  the  nature  of  the  charges  made,  and  of  evidence 
adduced  to  support  them,  the  attention  of  the  committee  has 
been  particularly  directed  towards  the  following  transactions  as 
especially  requiring  examination,  and  as  indicating  sinister 
motives,  and  involving  criminality  on  the  part  of  Governor 
Reed.  .     ^  ^ 

"ist.  It  was  alleged  that  Governor  Reed  received  from 
George  W.  Swepson  five  thousand  dollars,  which  was  supposed 
to  have  been  improperly  obtained  for  his  own  private  use  and 
advantage,  upon  the  credit  of  the  State. 

"2d.  It  was  charged  that  Governor  Reed  had  received 
eleven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  from  the  Florida  Railroad 
Company  due  the  Sinking  Fund,  without  authority  from  the 
Trustees  of  the  Internal  Improvement  Fund,  and  had  failed  to 
account  therefor  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Fund,  except  in  scrip. 

"3d.     It  was  alleged  that   Governor  Reed    had  received 


122  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  calling  the  extra  session 
of  the  Legislature  in  June,  1869. 

"4th.  It  was  alleged  that  Governor  Reed  had  received  a 
balance  due  the  State  of  some  six  thousand  four  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  dollars,  upon  the  sale  of  bonds  belonging  to  the 
State,  in  cash,  and  had  accounted  therefor  in   scrip. 

*'5th.  It  was  alleged  that  Governor  Reed  had  purchased  a 
large  quantity  of  arms  for  the  use  of  the  State,  charging  the 
State  therefor  a  larger  sum  than  he  actually  paid  for  them. 

''6th.  It  was  charged  that  Governor  Reed  had  procured 
the  printing  or  engraving  of  certain  bonds  for  the  State,  and 
charged  more   for  the  same  than  he  actually  paid  for  the  work. 

''A  large  amount  of  evidence,  both  oral  and  written,  was 
taken  in  reference  to  such  of  the  different  charges  made,  and 
full  and  mature  consideration  was  given  to  the  same.  The  testi- 
mony in  full,  as  the  same  was  taken  by  us,  is  herewith  given, 
and  made  a  part  of  this  report,  and  in  view  of  the  conclusion 
ultimately  reached,  there  seems  to  be  no  necessity  of  stating  the 
particular  findings  separately  in  regard  to  the  charges  made. 

"  We  give  the  charges  made  as  ^presented,  the  evidence  as 
received,  and  our  own  opinion  upon  the  whole,  leaving  the  final 
determination  and  judgment  to  the  calm  consideration  of  your 
honorable  body,  and  the  verdict  of  an  enlightened  public 
opinion. 

"On  entering  upon  the  investigation,  we  determined  that 
no  bias  of  party  feeling  should  induce  us  to  shield  the  respon- 
dent if,  from  evidence,  his  corruption  or  criminality  should 
clearly  appear.  On  the  other  hand,  realizing  the  confusion,  dis- 
order, and  the  manifold  dangers  that  must  necessarily  follow  an 
abrupt,  if  only  partial  disorganization  of  the  government,  we 
could  not  feel  that  our  duty  as  citizens  would  warrant  us  in 
recommending  impeachment  for  any  light  reasons,  or  a  necessity 
appeared  from  the  evidence  of  vindicating  the  character  of  our 
whole  people  and  the  cause  of  justice. 

"As  stated  before,  we  have  fully  examined  the  evidence; 
have  calmly  considered  it  in  the  light  of  surrounding  circum- 
stances; and  have  heard  the  explanations  of  Governor  Reed; 
and  while  we  find  instances  of  conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
Governor  that  in  our  opinion  are  to  some  extent  informal, 
irregular,  and  indiscreet,  patticularly  in  his  connection  with 
financial  matters,  we  also  find  a  lack  of  co-operation  and  accord 
existing  between  the  Governor  and  a  portion  of  his  Cabinet, 
which  indeed  appears  in  their  respective  official  reports,  that  goes 
far  to  palliate  or  perhaps  excuse  the  irregularities  referred  to. 

"With  reference  to  a  portion  of  the  charges  j)referred,  we 
find  them  in  no  wise  substantiated  by  the  evidence  offered;  and 
in  regard   to  others,  where   seeming    irregularity  appears,   and 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 23 

while  entertaining  grave  doubts  of  the  propriety  of  certain  acts, 
we  find  that  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  attending  and 
difficult  circumstances,  there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  of  any 
criminal  intention  whatever  on  the  part  of  Governor  Reed. 

"Before  announcing  our  final  conclusion,  we  desire  to  put 
far  away  any  disposition  to  appeal  in  any  degree  to  passion, 
prejudice,  or  party  feeling,  and  if  any  such  feeling  unwittingly 
appears  in  our  report,  we  desire  most  distinctly  and  solemnly  to 
disclaim  and  disavow  it. 

"And  on  the  other  hand,  when  we  look  forward  to  the 
probable  results  that  may  reasonably,  indeed  almost  certainly, 
be  expected  to  follow  in  the  present  unsettled  and  excited  state 
of  the  pubhc  mind  upon  any  hasty  and  inconsiderate  action  at 
the  present  time,  and  before  the  final  judgment  of  your  honor- 
able body,  upon  the  results  of  this  investigation  as  herein 
embodied,  we  ask  for  calm  and  considerate  reflection  in  the  name 
and  for  the  sake  of  peace,  order  and  obedience  to  law,  appeal- 
ing to  that  patriotic  love  of  our  common  country,  that  universal 
desire  to  promote  the  general  good,  that  conscientious  regard  for 
the  precepts  of  justice  and  truth,  which  are  the  highest  virtues 
in  any  legislative  body,  to  sustain  whatever  action  conscience 
and  equity  may  demand. 

"Before  stating  our  conclusions,  we  feel  bound  in  duty  to 
call  attention  to  the  many  difficulties  and  embarrassments,  partic- 
ularly of  a  financial  description,  with  which,  in  the  administra- 
tion of  a  newly  organized  government,  Governor  Reed  has  found 
himself  continually  surrounded.  Without  sympathy,  with  scanty 
resources,  without  the  support  from  a  portion  of  his  Cabinet,  as 
it  appears  from  the  testimony  and  from  official  documents,  called 
to  fill  a  multitude  of  offices  by  the  appointment  of  comparative 
strangers,  he  must  have  been  seriously  embarrassed  and  ham- 
pered on  every  hand. 

"After  deliberate  consideration  of  the  charges,  the  evi- 
dence, the  surrounding  and  difficult  circumstances,  and  in  view 
of  the  results  that  may  be  expected  to  follow  the  action  taken, 
we  do  not  find  the  charges  preferred  to  be  so  far  sustained  by 
the  evidence  given  as  to  warrant  us  in  recommending  an 
impeachment,  and  accordingly  offer  as  indicating  the  results  of 
our  investigation,  the  accompanying  preamble  and  resolution. 

"WM.   B.  WHITE." 

Whereas,  By  resolution  of  this  House,  grave  charges  of 
incompetency,  malfeasance  and  criminality  were  formally  pre- 
ferred against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  a  committee 
of  this  House  was  duly  commissioned  to  make  investigation,  and 
report  in  regard  to  the  evidence  upon  which  such  charges  were 
made;  and, 


124  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Whereas,  After  full  examination  of  the  evidence  adduced 
and  due  consideration  given  to  the  explanations  of  Governor 
Reed,  said  committee  have  reported  that  while  there  was  evi- 
dence of  irregular  and  indiscreet  action  on  the  part  of  Governor 
Reed,  which  may  be  considered  reprehensible  and  not  deserving 
of  approval,  yet  that,  taking  into  consideration  the  circumstances 
under  which  such  action  occurred,  and  the  many  difficulties 
encountered,  no  proof  is  found  of  any  corrupt  or  criminal  inten- 
tion on  the  part  of  Governor  Reed  that  warrants  impeachment ; 
therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  charges  made,  the  evidence 
presented  and  the  explanations  offered,  and  in  consideration  of 
attending  circumstances,  no  sufficient  evidence  appears  to 
warrant  the  impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida. 


After  the  reading  of  the  reports  of  the  majority  and  minority 
of  the  committee  had  been  concluded  the  Assembly  resolved 
itself  into  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  subject.  After  some 
time  spent  the  committee  rose  and  reported  the  two  reports  back 
to  the  House  and  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  majority 
report.  Before  this  recommendation  was  acted  upon  it  was 
ordered  by  the  House  that  the  whole  testimony  should  be  read. 
A  motion  was  made  to  adopt  the  majority  report,  which  was 
rejected  by  a  vote  of  29  to  21.  John  R.  Scott,  colored,  of 
Duval  County,  moved  the  adoption  of  the  minority  report,  which 
was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  27  to  22.  It  will  be  seen  that  all  the 
colored  members,  with  the  exception  of  Cox,  of  Leon,  voted 
against  impeachment.  Hon.  John  R.  Scott  and  H.  S.  Harmon, 
of  Alachua,  while  debating  upon  the  evidence,  showed  that  the 
ring  trying  to  impeach  Harrison  Reed  would  damn  any  State 
government  if  it  once  got  thoroughly  fixed  in  power.  You 
might  see  during  the  roll-call  the  members  of  the  ring  watching 
the  colored  members  whom  they  had  both  paid  and  promised 
money  to  vote  for  impeachment,  frowning  and  trembling  as  the 
colored  brother,  who  had  spent  the  money,  now  forgetting  the 
promise  cast  his  vote  to  exonerate  Reed. 

There  is  an  interesting  incident  connected  with  these  reports 
which  may  properly  appear  here.  Captain  Green,  after  the 
investigation  closed,  called  at  the  executive  office  and  informed 
the  Governor  that  they  had  agreed  to  report  in  his  favor,  and  at 
the  same  time  asked  the  ai)pointment  of  Mobly,  of  Tampa,  as 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA,  1 25 

judge  in  place  of  Magbee,  who,  he  said,  would  resign  if  the  Gov- 
ernor required.  Judge  Hart  had  been  advised  with  in  prepar- 
ing the  report  for  the  chairman,  Green,  and  he  had  also  advised 
the  Governor  that  it  would  sustain  him.  On  the  evening  before 
the  report  was  to  be  made  D.  Richards  called  upon  the  Gov- 
ernor and  told  him  that  unless  five  thousand  dollars  was  paid 
before  8  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  report  would  be  against 
him.  The  Governor  replied  that  nothing  would  be  paid  by 
him,  and  he  would  abide  the  consequences.  Again,  in  the 
morning,  the  Governor  was  advised  that  Green  and  Simpson 
must  have  five  thousand  dollars  or  they  would  sign  the  report 
against  him.  Before  roll-call  in  the  Assembly,  at  i  o  o'clock,  Green 
and  Simpson  had  been  shown  a  U.  S.  check  for  $6,000  payable 
to  the  U.  S.  marshal,  which  they  were  assured  would  be  theirs 
if  they  signed  the  report  against  the  Governor.  Simpson  after- 
wards publicly  acknowledged  that  he  was  pledged  $2,000  of  the 
avails  of  the  draft.  They  sought  to  suppress  entirely  the  report 
prepared  for  the  acquittal,  but  White  was  proof  against  their 
blandishments  and  alone  presented  the  report  through  the  clerk, 
Bynum.  So  certain  were  the  conspirators  now  of  full  success 
that  the  clerk  refused  to  read  the  report  presented  by  White, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  read  it  himself. 

The  most  of  the  Democratic  members  voted  for  impeach- 
ment, but  whether  influenced  by  the  testimony  or  from  a  party 
standpoint,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  say.  [See  Assembly  Journal, 
1870.]  Osborn  and  his  ring  followers,  now  frustrated  by  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  sustaining  Reed,  immediately  sued  for  a 
treaty  of  peace.  A  general  caucus  of  all  the  leading  Republi- 
cans was  again  called  to  meet  in  the  Senate  chamber  the  same 
night  after  Reed  had  been  exonerated,  and  the  Reed  and  anti- 
Reed  men  were  present.  The  anti-Reed  men  were  the  first  to 
speak,  who  made  haste  to  acknowledge  their  wrong  and  beg 
pardon  of  the  Governor  and  of  their  party  for  attempting  to  over- 
throw the  Republican  administration.  Green,  of  Manatee,  who 
offered  the  resolution  of  investigation,  arose  and  pledged  the 
Governor  his  future  support,  and  wound  up  by  saying  that  he 
felt  like  the  little  boy  who  got  besmeared  twenty  miles  from 
water.  The  famous  Littlefield  was  on  hand  and  made  a  speech 
congratulatory  of  the  Governor.     He  said  he  felt  like  the  old 


126  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

woman  who  sang  "  Hey,  daddy's  diddle,  the  cat's  in  the  fiddle, 
and  her  tail  flew  out."  A  resolution  was  passed  unanimously 
by  the  caucus  to  support  the  administration  of  Governor  Reed, 
after  which  they  adjourned. 

All  this  time  the  administration  was  in  a  terrible  muddle, 
and  no  one  could  conjecture  what  the  end  would  be.  Although 
the  ring  leaders  of  impeachment  had  pretended  to  ground  their 
arms,  it  was  apparent  that  they  were  still  in  deadly  hostility. 
The  Governor  and  his  Cabinet  could  not  co-operate,  and  a 
committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to  investigate  the  acts  and 
doings  of  the  several  Cabinet  officers  reported  the  following : 

'' We  have  been  painfully  convinced  of  the  want  of  that 
agreement  and  co-operation  between  the  Governor  and  the 
Cabinet,  which  should  prevail.  Indeed,  it  appears  from  the  evi- 
dence that  the  want  of  harmony  has  at  times  proceeded  to  the 
extent  of  actual  opposition ;  and  official  colleagues  at  this  time 
are  not  on  speaking  terms  with  the  Governor.  Such  a  condition 
of  things  ought  not  to  continue;  it  impedes  the  transaction  of 
public  business;  it  tends  to  injure  the  State  credit;  it  lessens 
the  efficiency  of  the  government  and  lowers  it  in  the  confidence 
of  our  citizens,  and  of  the  people  without  the  State ;  and  in  full 
consideration  of  all  the  facts  that  appear,  and  of  the  importance 
of  securing  thorough  co-operation  between  the  State  officers,  and 
in  due  deference  to  the  action  of  the  Honorable  Assembly,  the 
committee  find  it  to  be  their  duty  to  conclude  their  report  with 
the  following  suggestion  : 

' '  Without  imputing  special  blame  to  any  one,  or  entirely 
excusing  any  one,  the  committee  desire  to  suggest  to  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet,  the  immediate  resignation  of  the  whole 
Cabinet  and  giving  Governor  Reed  an  opportunity,  by  and  with 
the  advice  of  the  Senate,  to  select  a  Cabinet  who  could  cooper- 
with  him." 

A  minority  report  requested  Governor  Reed  to  resign. 
Both  reports  were  laid  on  the  table. 

In  the  summer  of  1870  the  Republicans  of  the  State  met 
in  convention  at  Gainesville,  to  make  nominations  for  Congress- 
man and  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  Osborn  ring  strove  hard  to 
re-nominate  Charles  Hamilton,  of  Jackson  county  notoriety,  for 
Congress,  but  colored  men  who  were  delegates  to  the  conven- 
tion had  made  up  their  minds  to  have  some  representation  on 
the  State  ticket,  which  resulted  in  the  nomination   of  Josiah  T. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I27 

Walls,  of  Alachua  county,  for  Congress.      So  much  were  they 
elated  in  the  nomination  of  Walls  that  they  slept  upon  their  suc- 
cess, and  allowed  the  ring  to  nominate    one  of  their  number, 
Samuel  T.  Day,  of  Columbia  county,   for  Lieutenant-Governor. 
The  ring  now  organized  to  elect  Day  and  defeat  Walls.     They 
sulked  in  their  tents  and  refused  to  work  for  Walls'   election. 
The  Democrats  nominated  in  that  year  Hon.   S.    L.    Niblack,  of 
Columbia  county,  for  Congress,  and  Hon.  William  D.  Bloxham, 
of  Leon  county,  for  Lieutenant-Governor.       The  ring  was  now 
for  the  first  time  confronted  with   a  political   giant,   who  was 
destined  to  overthrow  the  carpetbag  dynasty   of  Florida.     At 
this  period  no  Democrat  was  anxious  to  receive  the  nomination 
for  anything,  and  all  of  them  looked  upon  Bloxham's  canvass  as 
a  helpless  one.     With  no  money  with  which  to  make  a  canvass 
except  that  drawn  from  his  own  pocket ;  no  State   committee  to 
organize  the  Democratic  and  conservative  masses ;  with  carpet- 
bag postmasters  and  route  agents  to  intercept  his  communications 
to  the  different  counties,  this   man   visited  every  county   in  the 
State  and  nearly  every  town,  hamlet  and  cross-roads,    and  with 
the  cry  of  carpetbag  corruption   and  the  reign  of  terror   that 
had  been  inaugurated  in  Jackson  county  by  Purman  and  Hamil- 
ton, which  he  so  eloquently  and  truthfully  depicted,  he  showed 
almost  superhuman  ability  and  success  in  reuniting  and  arousing 
the  whites  and  the   conservative  elements  in   the  State  in  solid 
phalanx  against  the  plunder  ring.      The  Democratic  party  in 
Florida,  which  had  become  disheartened  and  disorganized  from 
repeated  defeats,  then  began  to  show  signs  of  vigorous  life.    Mr. 
Bloxham's  record,  shortly  after   the  emancipation  as  an  ex-slave- 
holder, in  establishing  the  first  colored  school  on  his  own  planta- 
tion ;  taking  the  money  from  his  own  pocket  to  build  the  house, 
and  paying  the  major  portion  of  the  money  for  a  teacher,  made 
him  so  very  popular  with  the  freedmen  that  the  carpetbag  leaders, 
with  all  their  league  oaths  and  false  representations  of  re-enslave- 
ment of  the  freedmen,    were   utterly  baffled  in  the  attempt  to 
divert  a  large  portion  of  them  from  him.      In  fact,    the   Demo- 
cratic party  of  Florida  had  no  cohesiveness  until  Bloxham  became 
its  candidate  in  1870,  and  it  was  Bloxham  who  rallied  the  masses 
against  Stearns  in  1876.     Mr.    Bloxham   was  not  a  member  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1865,   nor  did  he  labor  under 


128  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

the  heavy  cloud  of  having  been  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
under  the  Andrew  Johnson  reconstruction,  which  had  passed 
laws  that  enabled  the  carpet-baggers,  in  addition  to  the  league 
obligation,  to  so  frighten  the  freedmen  as  to  rally  them  in  sup- 
port of  the  most  unprincipled  and  corrupt  men. 

Osborn,  who  was  anxious  to  be  returned  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  determined  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  secure 
as  many  members  of  the  State  Senate  as  possible,  preparatory  to 
the  expiration  of  his  term.  Duval  county,  as  well  as  Leon, 
had  heretofore  opposed  from  the  beginning  of  reconstruction 
Osborn  and  his  whole  gang.  A  Senator  must  be  had  from  this 
county  at  all  hazards,  the  will  of  the  majority  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding,  and  this  request  of  the  chief  was  urgent  and 
mandatory.  The  ring  assembled  in  secret  conclave  in  Jackson- 
ville and  discussed  the  probabilities  and  improbabilities  of  secur- 
ing a  nomination  at  the  hands  of  the  Republican  nominating 
convention,  by  a  free  use  of  money  and  bad  whisky ;  and  if  that 
should  fail,  the  next  step  was  to  secure  John  R.  Scott,  colored, 
who  was  one  of  the  leading  lights  among  the  colored  men  of  that 
county,  and  have  him  to  understand  that  they  were  in  favor  of 
him,  in  order  that  if  he  was  nominated  for  the  Senate  they  could 
more  easily  make  a  combination  with  the  Democrats  to  defeat 
him  and  elect  one  after  their  own  heart,  Horatio  Jenkins,  Jr. 
Should  they  fail  in  this,  or  should  the  canvass  look  squally  for 
them,  then  fraud  upon  the  ballot-box  was  to  be  committed  and 
Jenkins  counted  in ;  and  should  they  fail  in  this,  Jenkins  was  to 
contest  the  seat  of  Scott  by  making  a  combination  with  the 
Democrats  in  the  Senate,  touching  the  safety  of"  their  minority 
in  the  Senate,  and  thereby  oust  Scott  and  seat  Jenkins.  As  to 
the  true  intention  of  the  conspirators,  Scott  was  unaware.  Let 
us  see  if  they  were  successful  in  any  of  these  propositions. 

John  R.  Scott,  now  ambitious  for  Senatorial  honors,  was 
worked  up  to  fever  heat  to  secure  the  prize.  The  convention 
met,  and  it  was  at  once  observed  that  W.  H.  Christy,  white 
Republican,  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Osborn  gang,  was  the 
choice  of  the  convention.  The  anti-ring  delegates  held  a  cau- 
cus, which  was  attended  by  Scott  as  one  of  them.  Scott  talked 
and  advised  with  the  other  delegates,  and  assured  them  that  he 
was  with  them  for  the  nomination  of  Christy.     He  begged  the 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 


129 


caucus  to  make  him  chairman  of  the  convention,  which  was 
done,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  convention  was  called  to  order. 
Scott,  as  pre-arranged,  was  made  chairman.  Christy  was  nomi- 
nated by  one  of  the  anti-ring  delegates,  and  instantly  the  carpet- 
baggers, Dockray,  Jenkins  and  Cheney  presented  the  name  of 
Scott  as  Christy's  opponent,  as  agreed  upon  before.  The  anti- 
ring  delegates  were  astonished  and  rushed  to  Scott  to  have  him 
withdraw  his  name,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  understand  what 
they  meant.  Ballotting  commenced,  and  resulted  in  the  nomi- 
nation of  Christy  by  a  large  majority,  but  Scott  ruled  that  the 
resolution  was  unintelligible,  and  ordered  a  new  ballot,  which 
was  had,  and  again  Christy  received  a  large  majority.  Some 
informalities  which  Scott  contended  compelled  him  to  rule  that 
the  first  ballot  was  unintelligible,  happened  this  time  all  right, 
but  he  ruled  just  the  opposite  to  what  he  did  before,  so  that  a 
third  ballot  was  ordered,  which  again  resulted  in  the  nomination 
of  Christy.  The  ring  now  gave  up  the  ghost  and  abandoned 
their  proposition.  Scott  and  Dan  Mclnnis  were  nominated  for 
the  Assembly. 

The  ring,  expecting  that  they  would  have  Scott  to  deal 
with,  when  it  turned  out  that  they  had  Christy,  hesitated  for 
a  while  to  attempt  to  defraud  him  at  the  ballot  box,  and  invented 
another  plan,  and  that  was  to  get  Jenkins  to  the  lower  house, 
which  would  give  him  influence  to  be  returned  to  the  Legislature 
two  years  hence,  and  also  to  lead  in  the  impeachment  of  Har- 
rison Reed.  '  Some  days  after  the  convention,  while  Christy  was 
incidentally  in  the  business  place  of  Dan  Mclnnis,  W,  M.  Led- 
with,  who  was  at  that  time  friendly  with  Osborn,  came  in,  and 
said :  "  Mclnnis,  I  am  authorized  by  Colonel  Osborn  to  say  to 
you  that  if  you  will  simply  withdraw  from  your  place  on  the 
Legislative  ticket  and  let  Jenkins  go  on  in  your  place,  he  will 
give  you  five  thousand  dollars,  and  give  you  also  the  regular  pay ; 
we  do  not  ask  you  to  take  an  active  part  in  his  favor."  Mclnnis 
replied,  "  Ledwith,  tell  Osborn  to  go  to  h — 1  with  his  money;  I 
have  my  trade  to  make  my  living  from."  Having  failed  to 
defeat  the  will  of  the  majority  in  these  two  efforts,  they  resorted 
to  the  Democrats  for  success.  They  entered  into  an  arrange- 
ment with  H.  H.  Hoeg  and  Miles  Price,  who  were  ambitious 
for  legislative   honors,  and   members  of  the  Democratic  party. 


130  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Hoeg  and  Price  being  backed  by  a  very  small  minority  of  the 
Democrats  of  the  county,  in  the  arrangement,  to  the  effect  that 
a  ticket  with  Horatio  Jenkins,  Jr.,  for  Senator,  and  H.  H.  Hoeg 
and  Miles  Price  for  the  Assembly  should  be  run  in  opposition  to 
the  regular  Republican  ticket,  Hoeg  and  Price  to  furnish  the 
money  to  run  the  campaign,  except  $1,000,  which  Jenkins  was 
to  contribute,  which,  according  to  the  statement  afterwards  of 
Hoeg's  accountant,  they  did  to  over  $4,000.  The  Democrats 
on  the  day  of  election  pretty  much  all  voted  for  Christy,  as  did 
the  Republicans  ;  and  according  to  the  count,  Christy,  Scott  and 
Mclnnis  were  elected  by  more  than  two-thirds  vote  of  the 
county.  The  county  board  of  canvassers  (the  clerk,  judge  of 
probate  and  a  justice),  after  throwing  out  irregularities,  etc.,  cer- 
tified to  the  Secretary  of  State  that  the  Christy  ticket  was  elected 
by  825  majority.  The  day  of  election,  the  ring,  with  what  follow- 
ing they  could  muster,  went  down  to  Yellow  Bluff  precinct, 
an  obscure  little  village,  to  vote,  thus  laying  the  foundation  for 
the  fraud  afterwards  perpetrated.  Yellow  Bluff  proper  had 
about  80  votes,  but  the  ring  had  invented  a  method  by  which  a 
minority  could  be  transformed  into  a  majority  without  votes  or 
the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  voter.  They  waylaid  the 
Inspector  from  this  precinct,  who  had  been  entrusted  with  the 
ballot  box  to  deliver  at  the  County  Clerk's  office,  and  getting 
him  drunk,  broke  it  open,  took  out  and  destroyed  the  returns 
made  by  the  Inspectors  and  substituted  one  of  their  own  manu- 
facture, with  votes  for  the  other  ticket,  to  correspond  with  the 
return — the  same  being  made  to  give  Jenkins,  Hoeg  and  Price 
small  majorities.  Resealing  the  box,  it  was  corrveyed  to  the 
Clerk's  office,  and  the  demand  made  for  its  count;  but  the  can- 
vassers failed  to  see  it,  and  threw  it  out.  At  the  time  of  the 
canvass,  Governor  Reed  was  in  Jacksonville,  and  was  appealed 
to  personally  by  Cheney  and  Osborn  to  instruct  the  clerk  and 
judge  to  canvass  in  Jenkins.  He  replied  that  he  had  never  yet 
been  a  willing  party  to  a  fraud  and  immediately  called  upon  the 
officers  to  discharge  their  duty  under  the  law,  regardless  of  the 
results.  Osborn  afterwards  sent  a  note  to  the  Governor  apolo- 
gizing for  the  request,  and  saying  it  was  only  because  he  wished 
to  save  the  election  of  Walls.  At  the  canvass  of  the  vote  by  the 
State    Board   of  Canvassers,  Christy  and   his  ticket  were  again 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I3I 

declared  elected.  The  ring  now  held  another  consultation  meet- 
ing and  determined  to  make  their  last  desperate  assault  on 
Christy.  They  had  an  understanding  among  themselves  to 
wait  quietly  until  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  and  learn  what 
Republicans  were  contesting  the  seats  of  Democratic  Senators. 
Their  henchman,  Lieutenant-Governor  Day,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  preside  over  the  Senate  and  appoint  its  committees,  was  to 
appoint  the  committee  on  privileges  and  elections  exclusively 
from  the  members  of  the  ring,  with  the  exception  of  the  two 
representatives  of  the  Democratic  party.  This  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme was  carried  out  to  the  letter,  and  the  committee  was 
accordingly  appointed.  The  seats  of  several  Democratic  Sena- 
tors were  contested,  and  at  the  low  estimate  in  which  the  ring 
held  the  voice  of  the  people  at  that  time  it  was  not  a  question  of 
honest  votes  cast  for  the  candidates  and  contestants,  but  as  to 
whether  the  ring  could  obtain  votes  enough  in  the  Senate  to  seat 
or  oust  members  in  utter  disregard  of  the  Constitution,  law, 
right  or  justice.  They  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Dem- 
ocratic Senators  that  if  they  would  seat  Jenkins  in  Christy's 
place,  they,  the  ring  members,  would  sustain  Ross,  Democrat, 
sitting  member  from  Columbia  County,  whose  seat  was  contested 
by  Dr.  E.  G.  Johnson,  Republican.  They  also  agreed  to  seat 
Allen,  Democrat,  from  Hamilton,  in  place  of  the  sitting  member 
from  that  county,  who  was  a  Republican,  and^to  seat  Duncan, 
Democrat,  from  Lafayette  and  Taylor,  in  place  of  Krimminger, 
Republican.  Christy  did  not  occupy  his  seat  more  than  three 
days.  Senator  Atkins,  one  of  the  two  Democrats  of  the  com- 
mittee on  privileges  and  elections,  came  to  Mr.  Christy  just 
before  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  on  the  day  he  was  ousted,  and 
said:  "  Mr.  Christy,  in  regard  to  this  contest,  we  all  know  you 
and  like  you,  and  know  you  were  elected.  You  have  lived 
among  us  a  long  time,  and  we  would  prefer  to  keep  you  in  your 
seat ;  but  it  becomes  us  as  Democrats  to  make  what  capital  we 
can  out  of  these  things,  and  if  you  will  promise  to  do  the  same 
things  for  us  that  Jenkins  and  his  friends  have  promised,  we  will 
keep  you  in  your  seat  and  send  Jenkins  home."  Mr.  Christy 
asked  him  what  they  had  promised,  and  he  said,  ''They  prom- 
ised to  seat  Allen,  from  Hamilton,  to  keep  Charley  Ross  in  from 
Columbia,  and  to  unseat  Krimminger."     Christy's  reply  was — 


132  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

''  Mr.  Atkins,  I  have  fought  as  hard  a  battle  for  my  seat  in  the 
Senate  as  any  man  ever  fought,  without  compromising  myself, 
and  I  don't  propose  to  do  so  at  this  eleventh  hour.  I  claim  my 
seat  as  my  right.  I  have  no  pledges  to  make  to  any  man  or  any 
set  of  men."  In  a  few  minutes  after  this  conversation  the  Sen- 
ate resumed  its  session,  the  packed  committee  on  privileges  and 
elections,  L.  G.  Dennis,  W.  J.  Purman,  and  Fred  Hill,  reported 
Jenkins  entitled  to  the  seat  of  Christy.  Eleven  Democrats  and 
four  Republicans  voted  to  oust  Christy.  The  Republicans  were 
Meacham,  Wentworth,  Hill  and  Dennis,  and  the  only  Demo- 
crat who  voted  yea  was  Ross. 

Jenkins  and  his  friends  now  had  an  opportunity  to  show 
whether  the  promise  of  a  genuine  carpet-bagger  was  worth  any- 
thing, and  whether  such  carpetbagger  was  worth  a  promise.  A 
few  days  after  the  ouster  of  Christy,  Ross,  who  had  voted  to 
unseat  Christy,  was  ousted  and  Johnson  seated,  Allen  was 
reported  against,  Krimminger  was  declared  entitled  to  his  seat, 
and  every  promise  made  by  Jenkins  and  his  ring  friends  was 
utterly  disregarded  and  violated.  The  Democrats,  who  now 
saw  that  they  had  been  outwitted  by  the  carpet-baggers,  went  to 
Christy  and  solicited  him  to  have  his  name  associated  with  Ross 
to  oust  Jenkins,  but  he  was  not  willing  to  have  Ross  who  had 
voted  against  him  now  slid  back  on  his  shoulders.  It  would 
thus  appear  that  the  astute  and  unprincipled  carpet-bagger  was 
not  only  capable  of  misleading  the  negro,  but  the  Southern 
whites  as  well,  and  that  both  were  susceptible  of  being  punished. 
Notwithstanding  these  men  who  were  parties  to  the  Yellow 
Bluff  fraud  stood  before  the  public  convicted  of  this  glaring 
outrage  upon  the  ballot  box,  which,  if  tolerated,  would  put  an 
end  to  all  republican  government,  yet  they  were  allowed  to 
hold  the  most  important  Federal  offices,  and  to  act  as  Chairmen 
and  Secretaries  of  our  State  Republican  committees.  While 
Jenkins  usurped  the  seat  of  Christy,  Scott  and  Mclnnis  were 
permitted  to  retain  their  seats  from  the  same  county.  Ross, 
Duncan  and  Allen  had  received  large  majorities  in  their  Sena- 
torial districts,  but  were  not  permitted  to  occupy  their  seats. 
The  freedmen  had  now  begun  to  learn  that  the  men  who  had 
been  loudest  in  the  denunciation  of  the  Southern  whites  for 
openly  opposing  negro  suffrage,  were  secretly  engaged  all  over 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I33 

the  State  in  nullifying  that  very  suffrage  when  the   exercise  of  it 
by  them  did  not  put  a  carpet-bagger  in  office. 

Three  or  four  days  after  the  election  of  1870  it  became  evi- 
dent that  Bloxham  and  Niblack  were  elected  by  good  majorities, 
though  the  ring,  through  their  newspapers,  claimed  the  election 
of  Day  and  Walls,  whom  they  were  confident  had  been  defeated ; 
and  while  they  rejoiced  in  their  hearts  over  the  defeat  of  Walls, 
yet  they  could  not  hide  their  despondency  over  the  defeat  of 
Day.  How  to  get  Day  in  and  count  Walls  out  was  a  very  diffi- 
cult question  to  solve.  The  leaders  of  the  ring  and  such  other 
members  as  sat  in  the  "  amen  corner"  at  once  held  a  consulta- 
tion to  devise  means  to  successfully  behead  Bloxham,  the  Demo- 
cratic giant.  It  was  proposed  at  first  to  count  in  Niblack  for 
Congress  and  Day  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  but  this  was 
objected  to  by  some  of  the  members  on  the  ground  that  the 
returns  from  all  the  counties  would  not  be  so  accessible  as  the 
returns  from  Yellow  Bluff  had  been,  and  that  such  a  step  would 
cause  the  colored  brother  to  kick  through  Walls,  who  was  him- 
self admitted  to  be  very  shrewd,  and  the  whole  fraud  and  the 
parties  to  it  might  be  criminally  exposed.  They  finally  agreed 
to  play  the  game  of  Yellow  Bluff  on  a  different  and  larger  scale. 
In  all  the  back  Democratic  counties  which  had  Republican 
officers,  who  composed  the  county  boards  of  canvassers,  said 
officers  were  to  delay  the  returns  to  the  State  Board  of  Canvass- 
ers a  sufficient  length  of  time  so  as  not  to  be  at  the  capital  within 
the  time  prescribed  by  law,  which  was  thirty  days  after  the  day 
of  election.  The  Republican  counties  were  mostly  on  the  line 
of  railroad  and  the  returns  from  them  could  be  got  to  the  cap- 
ital within  three  or  four  days.  This  proposition  was  to  be  kept 
very  secret  and  sent  to  none  but  those  who  could  be  trusted  as 
true  sympathizers  of  the  ring.  All  agreed  that  this  was  an  excel- 
lent plan  and  the  edict  went  forth,  which  was  partially  obeyed. 
The  plan  was  made  known  by  special  couriers  sent  to  the  differ- 
ent counties  in  the  garb  of  U.  S.  marshals,  pretending  to  be 
hunting  up  election  frauds  committed  by  the  Democrats.  These 
marshals  would  arrest  some  Democrat  on  some  frivolous  charge 
and  carry  him  to  Jacksonville,  put  him  under  bond  until  court 
met,  and  then  turn  him  loose.  The  next  question  was  as  to 
whether  the  ring  could  induce  the  Board  of  State  Canvassers  to 


134  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

act  in  accord  with  this  plan.  Reed,  although  not  a  member  of 
the  board,  was  yet  sore  about  their  repeated  attempts  at  impeach- 
ment, and  might  hesitate  to  enter  an  alliance  with  his  old  ene- 
mies to  carry  out  so  critical  a  proposition,  and  would  be  hard  to 
make  understand  their  real  plan ;  but  Day  77iust  be  counted  in. 
Gibbs,  Secretary  of  State  and  a  member  of  the  board,  they  feared 
could  not  be  depended  upon,  as  he  was  generally  opposed  to 
corruption  in  any  shape.  Gamble,  the  Comptroller,  another 
member  of  the  board,  was  a  Democrat,  and  Meek,  Attorney- 
General,  was  a  Republican  who,  they  feared,  could  not  be  relied 
upon  for  their  purposes,  though  he  was  opposed  to  Governor 
Reed.  E.  M.  Cheney,  chairman  of  the  so-called  Republican 
State  Committee,  who  was  second  in  command  of  all  the  ring 
forces  in  Florida  when  Osborn  was  in  the  State,  but  in  full  com- 
mand when  he  was  in  Washington  or  out  of  the  State,  had 
declared  that  the  State  had  been  carried  by  the  Republicans, 
and  must  be  so  counted.  The  presence  of  Cheney,  M.  Martin, 
L.  G.  Dennis,  the  "  Little  Giant,"  and  other  leading  lights  of 
the  ring,  was  an  admonition  to  the  shrewd  Bloxham  and  the 
veteran  editor  of  the  Floridian  that  some  political  trick  was 
imminent.  Different  ones  of  the  ring  approached  Governor 
Reed  and  indirecdy  suggested  the  counting  out  of  Bloxham  and 
Niblack,  but  he  informed  them  that  if  Bloxham  was  elected  he 
ought  to  be  so  declared  by  the  Board  of  Canvassers.  The  ring 
gave  the  Governor  to  understand  that  if  Bloxham  was  counted  in 
they  would  unite  with  the  Democrats  to  impeach  him,  Reed,  so  as 
to  make  Bloxham  Governor.  Reed  made  them  understand  that  he 
should  not  attempt  to  control  the  members  of  the  board  in  the  execu- 
tion of  their  duty,  but,  whatever  their  action  might  be,  he  would 
have  to  submit.  Gibbs  was  the  next  one  besieged  by  the  ring. 
The  same  whip  of  impeachment  held  over  Reed  was  now  success- 
fully used  on  Gibbs.  The  counting-out  process  was  demanded  as  a 
party  necessity,  while  Gibbs  himself  was  threatened  with  trumped- 
up  charges  relative  to  his  office  if  he  failed  to  do  the  bidding  of 
the  ring.  In  fact,  the  whole  party  influence  was  brought  to 
bear  on  Gibbs,  showing  the  necessity  of  the  counting  out  of 
Bloxham.  The  Democrats  had  generally  voted  with  the  ring  in 
the  impeachment  movements,  and  Gibbs,  being  between  two 
fires,  finally,  but   unwillingly,  yielded  to  the   tempters.     Gibbs 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I35 

secured,  the  next  victim  to  this  outrage  was  Attorney-General 
Meek,  who  for  some  time  stood  in  the  doubtful  column  ;  but  it 
was  afterwards  believed  that  he,  too,  yielded  to  the  tempters, 
but  proved  faithful  to  them  only  for  a  little  season.  "  The  spirit 
was  willing,  but  the  flesh  was  weak."  Although  he  had  become 
alienated  from  the  Governor  and  placed  himself  in  official  as 
well  as  personal  antagonism,  he  hesitated  to  accede  to  the 
demands  of  the  rmg,  but  feared  to  oppose  them.  He  claimed 
to  have  received  an  anonymous  letter  threatening  violence  if  he 
assented  to  a  false  count.  It  was  generally  believed  that  the 
letter  was  written  by  himself.  He  returned  to  his  home  in  Jack- 
sonville, where  he  was  taken  dangerously  ill  and  was  unable  to 
attend  the  final  canvass.  Mr.  Adams,  the  Commissioner  of 
Immigration,  was  authorized  to  present  to  the  Governor  his  resig- 
nation upon  condition  that  he  would  appoint  Conant  to  serve 
until  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  and  then  reappoint  Meek 
or  give  him  the  judgeship  of  the  Jacksonville  circuit.  The  Gov- 
ernor, in  order  to  get  rid  of  an  obnoxious  Attorney-General, 
accepted  the  resignation  of  Meek,  who  was  represented  to  him' 
as  in  a  dying  condition,  and  appointed  Conant  to  complete  the 
canvass,  upon  the  pledge  that  he  would  immediately  vacate  for 
a  competent  successor.  The  Governor  discovered  his  mistake 
when,  at  the  succeeding  session  of  the  Legislature,  Conant  sought 
to  hold  the  office  in  defiance  of  him  until  the  session  ended  his 
commission.  He  had  got  rid  of  Meek  only  to  find  a  more  bold, 
able  and  defiant  corruptionist. 

The  board  of  canvassers  met  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  on  the  29th  day  of  November  and  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  canvassing  the  returns  from  the  different  counties. 
Bloxham,  in  the  meantime,  had  partially  learned  what  trick  was 
up  and  had  his  spies  on  hand.  The  board  locked  themselves 
in  the  Secretary's  office  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  enter  but 
themselves.  Col.  Robert  H.  Gamble  was  the  inside  spirit,  he 
being  the  Democratic  member  of  the  board,  and  Capt.  C.  E. 
Dyke  standing  at  the  key-hole  on  the  outside  waiting  for  a 
whisper  from  Gamble.  When  the  returns  were  opened  it  was 
discovered  that  the  special  couriers  sent  to  the  different  counties 
had  done  their  work  well.  The  counties  of  Brevard,  Dade, 
Manatee,  Calhoun,   Lafayette,    Sumter,    Suwannee   and  Taylor 


136  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

were  not  in.  It  was  evident  to  Gamble  that  the  two  members 
of  the  board  were  bent  on  counting  the  vote  as  then  returned 
and  to  declare  the  result,  which  would  have  given  Day  a  major- 
ity. Capt.  Dyke,  still  at  his  post  on  the  outside  key-hole,  had 
received  several  important  dispatches  from  Col.  Gamble  as  to 
the  doings  of  the  major  members  of  the  board,  which  he  had 
conveyed  to  Bloxham.  The  information  conveyed  by  these  dis- 
patches induced  Bloxham  to  apply  to  Judge  While,  of  the  Second 
Judicial  Circuit,  for  an  injunction  restraining  the  board  from 
further  canvass  until  the  further  order  of  the  court.  The  Judge 
was  holding  court  in  the  city  of  Monticello,  about  thirty  miles 
away,  and  it  took  until  the  next  day  to  receive  the  injunction. 
Dyke,  not  having  heard  from  Col.  Gamble  for  some  time,  wrote 
a  note,  which  he  shoved  under  the  door,  urging  him  to  detain 
the  board  as  long  as  possible,  either  by  making  motions,  debat- 
ing, conversation,  or  anything  to  kill  time  until  the  injunction 
should  arrive.  This  dispatch  fell  into  the  wrong  hands,  as 
Gibbs  was  the  first  to  see  it,  read  it  and  then  put  it  in  a  book  in 
his  office.  Gamble  went  outside  to  carry  another  dispatch, 
when  Dyke  inquired  whether  he  had  received  the  one  shoved 
under  the  door.  He  answered  no,  and  rushed  back  into  the 
office  and  asked  who  had  received  it.  Meek  wanted  to  know  if 
Gamble  imputed  the  stealing  of  the  note  to  him,  when  Gibbs 
told  him  that  he  had  picked  up  a  note  and  laid  it  in  a  book. 
Gamble  got  very  wrathy  about  the  matter,  but  Gibbs  informed 
him  that  he  thought  the  note  was  of  no  consequence.  The 
injunction  was  received  the  next  day,  the  30th,  and  was  duly 
served  on  all  the  members  of  the  board,  and  the  board  in  a  few 
days  afterwards  adjourned  until  the  26th  day  of  December. 
When  the  injunction  was  served  on  the  board  the  ring  for  a  time 
thought  all  was  lost.  The  board  began  to  realize  the  fact  that 
Bloxham  was  elected,  but  the  ring  having  the  United  States 
Court  in  their  hands  rallied  again,  and  assured  the  members  of 
the  board  that  White  should  be  arrested  for  issuing  the  injunc- 
tion, and  begged  them  to  remain  faithful  and  steadfast.  Meek 
failed  to  be  comforted  by  these  promises  of  security,  and  he 
resigned  his  position  as  Attorney-General  on  the  day  of  the 
adjournment  of  the  board  to  the  26th  day  of  December.  White 
was  arrested  and  carried  before  the  United  States  Court,  charged 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  137 

with  having  violated  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  was 
kept  under  bond  until  the  fraudulent  count  had  been  committed, 
and  was  then  discharged. 

The  ring  was  determined  to  have  some  one  whom  they 
could  control  appointed  Attorney-General  and  upon  whom  they 
could  rely  in  carrying  out  the  fraudulent  count,  as  the  fraud  was 
so  glaring  that  it  took  a  man  of  great  nerve  to  face  the  music. 
They  were  not  long  in  finding  that  man.  Major  Sherman  Conant, 
who  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  ring,  was  selected 
to  do  the  counting.  Governor  Reed  was  insisted  upon  to  make 
this  appointment,  which  he  for  some  time  refused  to  do;  but 
the  ring  gave  him  to  understand  that  Conant  would  resign  as 
soon  as  the  canvass  was  made,  so  as  to  let  him  appoint  a  man 
of  his  own  choice  to  fill  this  important  position.  The  Governor 
made  the  appointment  as  requested  by  the  leaders  of  the  ring 
and  party,  as  it  was  then  constituted,  and  the  only  thing  the 
ring  then  feared  was  that  Gibbs  might  falter.  The  interval 
between  the  time  at  which  the  injunction  was  served  and  the 
adjournment  to  the  26th  of  December  was  very  interesting  indeed 
to  the  members  of  the  ring.  Every  night  they  met  and  discussed 
the  question  as  to  how  to  make  this  fraudulent  count  a  success. 
It  was  suggested  that  Bloxham  might  go  before  the  Supreme 
Court  and  compel  an  honest  count  by  mandamus,  which  all 
agreed  might  be  done.  It  was  also  suggested  that  the  returns 
could  be  taken  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the 
Governor's  office  and  destroyed,  if  those  officers  would  avow 
that  they  had  been  stolen;  but  this  plan  was  thought  to  be  inex- 
pedient. It  was  finally  agreed  that  when  the  board  adjourned  it 
should  adjourn  to  the  Christmas  week,  at  which  time  the 
Supreme  Court  could  not  be  got  together,  and  it  would  be  near 
the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  and  that  body  would  then  be 
called  upon  as  accessory  after  the  fact  to  give  effect  to  the  crime 
of  counting  out  men  who  had  been  legally  elected.  The  plan 
was  only  known  to  a  few,  and  operated  like  clockwork. 

The  board  met,  as  agreed,  on  the  27th  of  December,  with 
the  new  Attorney-General  and  all  the  members  of  the  board 
present.  Conant  and  Gibbs,  after  the  board  had  been  called  to 
order,  withdrew  from  the  Secretary's  office,  leaving  the  unsus- 
pecting Gamble  to  await  their  return.     It  was  charged  that  they 


138  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

went  into  the  office  of  the  Governor,  but  this  was  not  true. 
When  they  returned  they  had  made  the  canvass  by  throwing  out 
the  nine  counties  before  mentioned,  and  declaring  Day  and 
Walls  elected.  A  certificate  of  the  result  was  carried  to  Gamble, 
who  was  informed  by  them  that  there  was  a  little  matter  they 
had  fixed  up  and  signed,  and  they  desired  to  get  his  signature  to 
it.  He  looked  at  the  paper  and  to  his  astonishment  it  purported 
to  be  the  result  of  the  canvass  of  the  vote  which  they  had  met 
to  make.  He  wanted  to  know  when  and  where  the  canvass  had 
been  made,  but  received  no  answer.  He  refused  to  sign  the 
certificate  of  the  result  of  the  canvass  made  by  them,  but  this 
availed  nothing.  Day  and  Walls  were  declared  elected,  and 
the  board  adjourned  sine  die.  The  canvass  was  made  in  utter 
disregard  of  the  injunction  issued  by  Judge  White,  and  said 
order  was  not  dissolved  until  the  28th,  the  day  after  the  can- 
vass. 

Bloxham,  who  had  been  outraged,  as  well  as  the  people  who 
had  voted  for  him,  now  filed  a  petition  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Florida  for  an  alternative  writ  of  mandamus  com- 
pelling the  Board  of  Canvassers  to  reassemble  and  canvass  the 
votes  from  the  nine  counties  which  they. had  thrown  out.  R.  B. 
Hilton  and  S.  J.  Douglas  appeared  for  the  relator  and  J.  B.  C. 
Drew  for  the  respondents.  The  petition  showed  that  2,582 
votes  were  cast  in  the  nine  counties  mentioned,  and  of  these 
votes  Bloxham  had  received  1,630,  while  952  were  cast  for  Day 
showing  a  majority  for  Bloxham  in  these  counties  of  678  votes. 
The  vote  as  cast  in  the  whole  State  was  as  follows :  Bloxham, 
13,462;  Day,  13,398;  leaving  Bloxham's  majority  64.  The 
answer  to  the  writ  was.  First,  that  the  court  had  no  power  to 
grant  the  writ  in  this  case.  Second,  that  the  facts  set  up  were 
not  sufficient  to  entitle  the  relator  to  the  relief  demanded. 
Third,  that  the  relator  had  not  pursued  the  proper  remedy. 

The  Legislature  had  been  in  session  a  few  days,  and  pend- 
ing the  mandamus  proceedings,  it  was  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  court  that  the  law  which  created  the  State  Board  of  Can- 
vassers had  been  repealed  by  the  Legislature  then  in  session. 
The  court's  attention  was  not  called  to  the  re])eal  of  this  act  by 
the  attorneys  on  either  side;  but  the  law  repealing  the  act  was 
accidently  laid  in  front  of  the  Chief  Justice  (Randall)  while  he 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  139 

and  the  other  judges  sat  on  the  bench  and  were  about  to  deHver 
an  opinion  that  Bloxham  should  be  counted  in.  It  was  very 
singular  that  the  Chief  Justice  should  take  judicial  notice  of  a 
paper  when  he  did  not  know  whether  it  was  fictitious  or  genuine, 
especially  when  it  involved  the  rights  of  all  the  people  in  the 
State.  The  court,  after  declaring  its  authority  to  grant  a  writ  of 
mandamus  directing  the  Board  of  State  Canvassers  to  reas- 
semble and  complete  a  canvass  of  the  returns  of  votes  cast 
at  a  State  election,  where  they  have  neglected  to  make  a  com- 
plete canvass  of  the  returns  in  their  possession,  said, 
''Pending  the  proceedings  by  mandamus  against  the  Board  of 
Canvassers,  the  Legislature  repealed  the  law  creating  such 
board,  without  saving  proceedings  or  duties  required  by  law  to 
be  performed  by  them  and  uncompleted.  Held :  That  the 
power  of  the  board  to  proceed  was  gone,  and  therefore  the  pro- 
ceedings against  them  were  dismissed."  See  13th  Florida 
Reports,  p.  55.  This  act  of  the  Legislature  was  very  quietly 
and  cautiously  engineered  through  without  being  even  suspected 
on  the  part  of  the  Democrats. 

The  counting  out  of  Bloxham  and  Niblack  made  Conant 
very  popular  among  the  members  of  the  ring,  and  he  was  after- 
wards appointed  United  States  Marshal  for  Florida.  Gibbs 
received  no  credit  from  the  ring,  as  the  part  he  played  in  the  mat- 
ter was  looked  upon  as  being  compulsory. 

Thus  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government,  instead  of 
being  the  guardian  of  purity  of  the  ballot  box,  was  made  the 
only  loophole  through  which  this  fraud  could  escape  to  high 
places. 

The  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1871  was  conspicuous 
for  nothing  except  the  election  of  a  corrupt  Chief  Clerk  of  the 
Senate — the  notorious  Joseph  Bowes,  professed  ballot-box  stuffer ; 
completing  the  Bloxham  fraud ;  and  the  ousting  of  Democratic 
members  who  had  been  legally  elected.  There  was  no  venture 
at  impeachment,  for  the  reason  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
reference  to  the  counting  out  of  Bloxham.  The  Governor's 
message  was  devoted  chiefly  to  the  finances  of  the  State,  but  the 
Legislature  refused  to  accept  any  measure  recommended  by  the 
Governor,  and  after  a  session  of  twenty  days  it  adjourned  sine 
die. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  i8y2.  Extracts  from  the  Gov- 
erfior's  Message.  Corruptionists  Hunting  up  and  Investigat- 
ing Charges  of  Corruptioii.  The  Blue  Scrip  Transaction. 
Colored  Members  Denouncing  Corruption.  Impeachment  of 
Governor  Reed.  The  First  Articles  of  Impeachment.  The 
Senate  Takes  Order,  and  Day  Assumes  the  Office  of  Governor. 
The  Assembly  Withdraws  Articles  Fifth  and  Sixth  and  Pre- 
sents Others.  The  Assembly  Askifigfor  Further  Ti7?ie  to  Prose- 
cute the  Impeachment.  The  High  Court  of  Impeachment 
Refuses  to  Grafit  Further  Time,  and  Adjourns.  The  Contri- 
tion of  the  Conspirators. 

The  Legislature  met  on  the  second  day  of  January,  1872, 
and  the  Assembly,  after  electing  its  officers,  informed  the  Senate 
of  its  organization,  and  the  Senate  sent  the  same  information  to 
the  Assembly.  Hamilton  Jay,  who  was  then  clerk  for  S.  B. 
Conover,  State  Treasurer,  was  elected  chief  clerk  of  the  Assem- 
bly. Mr.  Jay  was  a  fresh  carpet-bagger  from  the  North,  who 
had  not  tasted  to  any  great  extent  the  pap  of  the  State,  and  he 
had  not  been  in  the  State  long  enough  to  register.  The  leading 
carpet-baggers  from  all  parts  of  the  State  were  on  hand  in  full 
force,  and  it  was  evident  that  something  important  regarding  the 
interests  of  the  ring  was  to  be  accomplished. 

F.  A.  Dockray,  who,  from  the  first,  had  been  Osborn's 
most  active  agent  in  all  the  efforts  to  override  or  remove  Gov- 
ernor Reed,  and  who  had  been  rewarded  with  the  appointment 
of  collector  of  the  port  of  Jacksonville,  came  fresh  from  Washing- 
ton and  made  demand  for  the  appointment  of  Attorney-General, 
then  temporarily  held  by  J.  B.  C.  Drew,  a  non-resident  carpet- 
bagger, from  Wisconsin.  Drew  demanded  that  his  nomination 
for  the  position  should  be  sent  to  the  Senate.  Dennis  demanded 
the  removal  of  all  the  county  officers  of  Alachua  and  the 
appointment  of  W.  K.  Cessna  as  County  Judge,  with  other  cor- 
ruptionists for  the  balance.  W.  J.  Purman  demanded  the 
removal  of  all  the  county  officers  of  Jackson   county  and  the 


142  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

appointment  of  non-residents.  All  these  demands  were  made 
upon  the  Governor  under  threat  of  impeachment  if  not  complied 
with ;  and  when  Dennis  repeated  his  demand  and  presented  his 
alternative,  the  Governor  is  reported  to  so  far  have  forgotten  his 
church  fealty  as  to  reply  :  "  Impeach  and  be  d — d.  I  ask  no 
favors  of  you  or  any  of  Osborn's  corrupt  crowd."  These  four 
combined  immediately  planned  the  suspension  of  Governor 
Reed,  the  installation  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Day,  the  issue  of 
two  millions  more  of  railroad  bonds  to  Littlefield,  one  quarter  of 
which  was  to  be  divided  among  members  of  the  Legislature  and 
the  remainder  distributed  among  the  conspirators.  Dockray  and 
Drew  furnished  the  evidence  for  the  committee  sitting  in  secret, 
made  the  report,  based  upon  unsworn  and  unfounded  testimony. 
Cessna,  the  tool  of  Dennis,  from  Alachua  county,  was  the  willing 
instrument  to  introduce  the  resolution,  and  vStearns,  the  Surveyor. 
General  and  Speaker;  Jenkins,  the  clerk  of  the  House  and 
afterwards  defaulting  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue ;  Purman, 
the  United  States  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue ;  Wentworth, 
United  States  Marshal,  then  a  defaulter  for  money  used  in  the 
previous  attempt  to  depose  the  Governor,  holding  seats  and  hav- 
ing control  of  the  Senate  under  Osborn,  were  relied  upon  after 
suspending  the  Governor,  to  present  a  trial  or  even  an  examina- 
tion of  the  testimony. 

When  the  plan  was  all  ready  for  execution  the  committee 
met,  received  the  testimony  and  report  prepared  by  Dockray  and 
adopted  them.  Stearns  called  together  all  the  more  ignorant 
and  prejudiced  of  the  colored  Assemblymen,  pledging  them  to 
vote  the  next  morning  for  a  resolution  of  impeachment,  assuring 
them  that  it  would  be  proved  that  the  Governor  had  appropriated 
the  public  funds,  etc.  Gillist,  a  Southern  loyalist,  from  Putnam 
county,  holding  from  Governor  Reed  the  appointment  of  County 
Judge,  was  secured  by  promise  of  the  position  of  Circuit  Judge 
for  the  Fourth  Circuit ;  Dukes,  Democratic  Assemblyman, 
from  Columbia,  was  enlisted  by  the  promise  of  a  large  share  of 
the  new  bonds,  of  which,  as  chairman  of  the  Railroad  Commit- 
tee,  he   had  recommended  the  issue. 

At  nine  o'clock  at  night  twenty-four  Republican  Assembly- 
men were  sworn  by  Stearns  to  vote  for  a  resolution  of  impeach- 
ment, to  be  reported  at  the  opening  of  the  session  next  morning. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  I43 

This  done,  ex-Governor  Walker  was  waited  upon  by  Stearns 
with  a  proposition  that  if  he  could  furnish  seventeen  Democratic 
members  to  vote  for  a  resolution  of  impeachment,  the  Governor 
would  be  suspended  the  next  day.  Governor  Walker  immedi- 
ately secured  a  caucus  of  the  Democrats,  and  induced  them  to 
rescind  a  resolution  already  adopted,  pledging  that  they  would 
abstain  from  further  attempts  to  embarrass  the  Governor,  and 
agree  to  vote  for  a  resolution  of  impeachment  the  next  morning. 
The  first  advice  the  Governor  had  of  the  consummation  was  from 
a  Democratic  member  from  Orange  County  who  went  to  the 
executive  office  at  nine  o'clock  and  informed  him  that  at  eleven 
o'clock  the  night  before  he  had  been  called  from  his  bed  to  meet 
Governor  Walker  in  caucus,  and  that  he  had  induced  the  major- 
ity to  '*  go  back"  on  their  previous  action  and  vote  a  resolution 
of  impeachment,  and  while  he  was  thus  engaged,  he  was  sum- 
moned by  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  under  a  call  of  the  House  to  vote 
on  a  question  of  impeachment.  Being  thus  advised  that  he 
would  be  immediately  suspended,  with  no  chance  for  investiga- 
tion or  trial,  the  Governor  immediately  asked  friendly  Senators 
an  adjournment  of  the  Senate  until  Monday,  that  being  P'riday, 
which  was  accorded,  and  the  Governor  immediately  prepared  to 
vacate  the  Executive  office  and  return  to  his  farm  at  Jackson- 
ville to  await  results.  The  first  signal  of  war  against  the  admin- 
istration was  the  following  resolution,  offered  by  one  of  the  lead- 
ing members  of  the  ring  from  Alachua  County,  W.  K.  Cessna : 

Whereas,  There  are  many  and  grave  charges  afloat  as  to 
the  mal-appropriation  of  the  proceeds  of  the  bonds  issued  by  the 
State  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  J.,  P.  &  M.  Railroad,'  and 
that  the  charter  creating  the  company  in  charge  of  said  road  has 
not  been  complied  with,  either  in  spirit  or  letter;  and  that  gross 
frauds  have  been  committed  upon  the  State ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  first,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by 
the  Speaker,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  thoroughly  and  vigorously 
investigate  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  J.,  P.  &  M.  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  also  that  of  the  State  officials  in  connection  therewith, 
in  every  particular  where  the  State  is  a  party  in  interest,  with  a 
view  to  a  speedy  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  all  offenders. 

Resolved,  second,  That  the  said  committee  shall,  with  their 
report,  recommend  such  measures  for  the  action  of  the  Legisla- 
ture as  will  correct  existing  evils,  and  prevent  loss  to  the  State, 
and  guard,  as  far  as  may  be,  against  similar  rascalites  in  the  future. 


144  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Resolved,  third,  That  the  said  committee  shall  have  power 
to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  to  employ  assistance,  and  to  do 
in  the  premises  whatever  else  may  be  found  necessary  to  a  com- 
plete and  successful  elucidation  and  exhibition  of  the  case, 
reporting  daily  all  expenses  incurred  to  this  Assembly. 

Resolved  fourth,  That  the  said  committee  shall  report  their 
progress  weekly. 

These  resolutions  were  subsequently  referred  to  a  committee 
appointed  at  the  last  regular  session  to  investigate  the  acts  and 
doings  of  the  said  company. 

The  two  Houses  met  in  joint  session  on  the  second  day  of 
the  session  to  receive  the  Governor's  annual  message.  The 
Governor  came  forward  at  the  appointed  time  and  delivered  his 
message,  which  was  pronounced  by  all  to  be  very  able  and  inter- 
esting.    He  said  : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Legislature  : 

For  the  last  time  during  my  official  term  have  I  the  honor 
to  meet  you  in  session,  to  deliver  my  annual  address  as  Chief 
Executive  of  the  State;  and  while,  since  you  last  assembled, 
the  State  has  passed  a  season  of  severe  trial  by  flood  and  storm, 
yet,  on  the  whole,  it  has  kept  a  steady  pace  onward  in  popula- 
tion and  in  civil,  political  and  industrial  development. 

Among  the  reconstructed  States  of  the  South  none  started 
upon  a  more  truly  conservative  basis  than  Florida,  and  none  have 
progressed  more  successfully  in  the  scale  of  social,  political  and 
industrial  improvement. 

Florida,  upon  the  whole,  may  be  said  to  have  been  dis- 
tinguished among  the  Southern  States  for  general  peace  and 
quiet  and  obedience  to  law,  notwithstanding  reports  to  the 
contrary  which  have  prevailed,  much  to  the  detriment  of  the 
State. 

Still  disturbances,  breaches  of  the  peace,  infractions  of  the 
law,  and  scenes  of  fatal  and  disgraceful  violence  have  occurred 
in  many  localities  within  our  borders.  This  I  have  attempted 
to  correct  by  the  exercise  of  all  the  power  vested  in  me  by 
the  Constitution,  and  by  the  use  of  all  the  means  bestowed 
for  that  purpose  by  the  Legislature.  But  at  times  all  efforts 
have  failed,  and  all  the  means  at  my  command  have  seemed  to 
be  ineffective. 

It  is  true  that  these  same  localities,  being,  to  all  intents, 
border  sections,  have  from  time  immemorial  been  the  resorts  of 
lawless  and  reckless  men,  and  in  some  of  them,  as  in  earlier 
periods    of   the    existence    of    the    Western  and  Southwestern 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 45 

States,  the  law  of  Judge  Lynch  and  the  ''Regulators"  for  years 
before  the  war,  had  been  the  only  code  of  much  efficacy. 

I  had  hoped  better  results  from  the  reorganization  of  govern- 
ment under  Republican  auspieces ;  but  the  bitterness  resulting 
from  the  war,  the  noxious  teachings  of  disappointed  and  defeated 
political  opponents,  assisted  by  the  occasional  lack  of  discretion 
on  the  part  of  injudicious  political  friends,  succeeded  for  a  long 
time  in  setting  at  naught  the  advice  and  the  efforts  of  the  better 
men  of  all  classes,  until  improvement  at  times  seemed  to  be  hope- 
less; and  I  have  been  strongly  and  forcibly  urged  to  the  declara- 
tion of  martial  law. 

But  looking  upon  the  suspension  of  the  civil  law  as  an 
experiment  always  full  of  danger  and  entirely  opposed  to  all  the 
principles  of  free  popular  government,  I  have  hesitated  and 
refused  to  take  a  step  so  fraught  with  manifold  dangers,  except 
as  the  very  last  resort,  even  at  the  risk  of  incurring  the  enmity 
and  hospitality  of  my  own  political  friends.  And  while  my 
heart  has  bled  for  the  violence  and  suffering  inflicted  upon  the 
more  helpless  classes  of  the  community,  I  have  steadily  relied 
upon  the  civil  law  and  the  good  sense  and  latent  patriotism  of 
the  general  citizenship. 

The  power  granted  me  in  the  detective  law  of  1868  was 
rendered  almost  nugatory  through  the  restrictions  and  want  of 
means  imposed,  I  fear,  by  the  jealousies  and  personal  animosi- 
ties of  so-called  political  friends ;  I  still  have  earnestly  endeav- 
ored, through  the  aid  of  special  detectives,  employed  at  my  own 
expense,  to  ferret  out  and  bring  to  justice  the  perpetrators  of 
violence  and  crime,  for  whose  detection  and  punishment  the 
ordinary  enforcement  of  our  criminal  laws  seemed  inadequate. 
And  at  last  these  persistent  efforts  seem  likely  to  be  crowned  with 
some  measure  of  success.  A  large  amount  of  useful  information 
has  thus  been  obtained,  and  a  mass  of  testimony,  the  nature  and 
extent  of  which  it  is  improper  to  disclose  till  the  entire  safety  of 
the  witnesses  is  effectually  secured,  is  at  my  disposal. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  work,  and  in  the  absence  of  the 
proper  legislative  appropriation  therefor,  I  have,  of  necessity, 
been  forced  to  incur  large  expenses,  accounts  of  which  will  be 
presented  for  adjustment  at  your  present  session. 

RETRENCHMENT    AND  ECONOMY. 

Much  has  been  said  within  and  without  the  Legislature 
about  retrenching  expenses  and  an  economical  administration 
of  the  government.  All  the  measures  heretofore  adopted  have 
been,  for  want  of  completeness,  Hke  saving  at  the  spigot  and 
losing  at  the  bung. 

A  few  salaries  have  been  reduced,   and    the    Constitution 
10 


146  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

and  government  weakened  thereby,  while  the  main  sluiceways 
of  extravagance  and  waste  have  been  kept  open. 

This  session  brings  direct  instructions  from  the  people 
that  may  not  be  disregarded  with  impunity.  The  plan  hereto- 
fore adopted  by  the  opposition  of  favoring  every  measure  of 
extravagance  in  order  that  they  may  hold  the  dominant  party 
responsible  for  lavish  expenditure,  must  now  be  abandoned  or 
the  Representatives  will  violate  their  pledges  to  their  constitu- 
ents. The  Republican  members  can  no  longer  continue 
reckless,  under  penalty  of  political  as  well  as  personal  con- 
demnation. 

Now  is  the  time  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  true  practical 
economy,  and  the  Legislature  should  begin  at  its  own  doors, 
and  thence  through  all  departments  of  the  government. 

I  St.  Cut  off  all  useless  employes  and  supernumeraries  and 
fix  the  per  diem  of  members  and  officers  upon  a  cash  basis 
according  to  a  business  standard. 

2d.  Revise  the  fee  bill  and  equalize  the  pay  of  county 
officers,  reduce  the  fees  of  clerks  of  courts,  compel  the  assessor 
to  make  his  own  roll  without  the  additional  charge,  and  reduce 
the  percentage  for  the  assessment  and  collection  of  the  revenue. 
The  sheriffs  and  county  judges'  fees  are  reduced  to  a  proper 
standard,  but  in  one  of  the  circuits,  at  least,  the  judge  has 
overruled  the  law,  and  the  sheriffs  charge  50  per  cent,  more 
than  the  law  allows. 

3d.  Require  all  taxes  paid  in  cash,  and  thus  do  away  with 
the  inducements  to  fraud  in  speculating  in  scrip,  making  false 
returns,  etc.,  and  at  the  same  time  reduce  the  aggregate 
expenses  of  the  government  25  percent. 

4th.  Require  jurors  and  witnesses'  fees  to  be  adjusted  by 
the  counties.  As  now  adjusted,  there  is  no  protection  against 
duplicate  and  false  certificates.  At  least  25  per  cent,  in  amount 
would  be  saved  by  settlement  of  these  accounts  where  they 
occur,  instead  of  issuing  certificates  to  be  paid  by  the  Comp- 
troller. 

The  adoption  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  which 
took  effect  on  15th  May  last,  has  reduced  the  salaries  of  the  State 
officers  so  low  that  those  who  were  not  resident  at  the  capital 
could  not  comply  with  the  law  of  last  session  and  transfer  their 
residence.  The  combination  of  speculators  and  ))olitical  gam- 
blers to  destroy  the  credit  of  the  State  reduced  scrip  so  low  that 
the  heads  of  departments  received  only  equivalent  to  $700  per 
annum,  and  the  Governor  $1,000.  The  judges'  pay  is  at 
starvation  point,  and  unless  the  cash  system  is  at  once  adopted 
it  will  be  impossible  to  sustain  their  position. 

The  change  in  the  mode  of  pay  of  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  from  a  salary  to  per  diem  affords  an  opjortunity  for 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I47 

the  Representives  to  show  the  sincerity  of  their  professions  by 
adopting  a  reasonable  sum  for  their  services.  Take  $5  per  day 
as  a  basis,  to  be  be  paid  in  cash,  and  the  aggregate  pay  of  the 
members  would  be,  for  a  sixty-day  session,  $22,500,  being  a 
saving  of  $15,000  for  the  session,  and  affording  each  member  as 
much  real  value  as  when  he  received  the  larger  amount  in  scrip. 
By  establishing  the  pay  of  the  clerks  upon  the  same  basis,  and 
limiting  the  number  to  the  real  necessities  of  the  Legislature, 
half  as  much  more  may  be  saved,  making  an  aggregate  saving  of 
from  $20,000  to  $25,000  at  each  session. 

Another  source  of  great  loss  to  the  State  is  the  hurried 
passage  of  the  general  appropriation  bill,  at  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sion, when  thousands  of  dollars  are  inserted  of  extra  allowances 
and  improper  items,  and  lugged  through  because  it  is  too  late  to 
correct  and  save  the  bill.  This  is  an  evil  that  must  be  remedied, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  members  to  see  that  the  general  appro- 
priation bill  is  passed  early  in  the  session,  and  if  extra  pay  or 
old  claims  are  presented  let  each  stand  upon  its  merits.  No 
appropriation  bill  yet  passed  has  met  strictly  the  requisitions  of 
the  constitution.  ^ 

In  1870,  under  the  act  of  the  Legislature,  $4,000,000  of 
bonds  were  issued  to  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile 
Railroad  Company  in  exchange  for  the  same  amount  of  bonds 
of  the  compan)/,  bearing  the  same  date  and  rate  of  interest. 

I  have  no  report  of  the  company  in  relation  to  their  condi- 
tion and  purposes,  but  they  have  not  complied  with  the  law  in 
the  extension  of  their  road  to  the  Chattahoochee  by  ist  of  July, 
though  I  am  unofficially  informed  that  its  completion  to  that 
point  is  now  rapidly  progressing,  and  will  soon  be  consum- 
mated. 

It  appears  that  bonds  were  entrusted  by  the  company  to 
one  of  the  firms  of  swindlers  who  abound  in  new  York,  which, 
by  fraud  and  villainy,  have  diverted  much  of  the  proceeds  from 
the  work  for  which  they  were  issued,  and  there  remains  but 
$1,200,000  for  the  purposes  of  extending  the  road  beyond  the 
river. 

The  last  million  of  the  four  were  delivered,  and  are  held  in 
trust  to  be  disposed  of  when  the  amount  of  $300,000  balance 
due  the  Internal  Improvement  Fund  is  paid.  This  sum  is 
still  unpaid,  and  remains  a  lien  upon  that  portion  of  the  road 
between  Lake  City  and  Quincy. 

The  losses  of  the  company  in  no  way  involve  loss  to  the 
State,  as  the  securities  held  by  the  State  can  at  any  time  be  con- 
verted for  sufficient  to  redeem  the  State  bonds. 

I  am  advised  that  the  interest  on  the  bonds  has  been  paid 
by  the  company  up  to,  and  including  January,  1872,  but  the 
coupons   have   not    been   delivered    at  the  Treasury,    and  the 


148  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

coupons  upon    the  railroad  bonds  held   by    the  State  therefor 
remain  uncancelled. 

These  bonds  are  included  in  the  Comptroller's  statement  of 
the  State  debt,  without  note  or  comment,  and  the  inference  is 
left  that  no  provisions  are  made  for  the  interest  or  principal  save 
from  taxation.  Now  the  State  holds  an  equal  amount  of  first 
mortgage  bonds  of  $16,000  a  mile  on  a  completed  road  which 
has  sufficient  business  to  pay  its  running  expenses,  the  interest 
on  these  bonds,  and  enough  to  constitute  a  sinking  fund  suffi- 
cient to  discharge  the  bonds  when  due.  This  being  the  fact,  it 
is  unjust  to  the  people  of  the  State  to  seek  to  convey  a  different 
impression  abroad,  and  it  can  only  be  excused  on  the  ground 
assumed  by  the  writer  above  quoted  from  the  ''Floridian"  that 
their  "only  hope  is  in  the  utter  financial  bankruptcy  of  the 
State."* 

RECAPITULATION. 

Liabilities — 

Bonded  debt $  747,945  08 

Floating  debt ,    .    .    .      563,704  89 

Total $1,311,649  97 

Resources — 

Revenue  uncollected 604,672  45  * 

Amount  due  from  United  States  .    .  220,000  00 

$824,672  45 

Total  debt,  Jan.,  1872 $486,977   52 

After  discharging  all  the  liabilities  of  the  Internal  Improve- 
ment Fund  and  meeting  all  the  grants  made  to  railroads,  rivers, 
canals,  etc.,  we  shall  have  at  least  four  million  acres  of  lands 
remaining,  as  a  final  resource  for  any  State  liabilities. 

COLLECTORS    OF    REVENUE    AND    TREASURERS. 

The  attention  of  the  Legislature  is  particularly  directed  to 
the  importance  of  more  stringent  laws   to   protect   the  counties 

*NoTE.— "No  greater  calamity  could  befall  the  State  of  Florida,  while  under 
the  rule  of  its  present  carpetbag,  scalawag  officials,  than  to  be  placed  in  good  finan- 
cial credit.  ******  onr  only  hope  is  in  the  State's  utter  finan- 
cial bankruptcy ;  and  Heaven  grant  that  that  may  speedily  come  !  On  the  other 
hand,  establish  for  the  State  financial  credit  on  AVall  Street,  so  that  Florida  bonds 
can  be  sold  by  Reed  &  Co.,  as  fast  as  issued,  and  you  give  these  foul  harpies  a  life- 
tenure  of  these  offices.  ******  xhe  temporal  salvation  of 
the  tax  payers  is  in  having  scrip  low,  so  that  they  can  buy  it  to  pay  taxes  with,  and 
in  having  the  State's  financial  credit  low  so  that  Reed  &  Co.  can't  sell  State  bonds 
seas  to  raise  money  with  which  to  perpetuate  their  hold  on  office."— Floridi  an 
Aug   I,  1871. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I49 

and  State  against  embezzlement  or  losses  from  inadequate  bonds 
of  treasurers  and  revenue  officers. 

As  the  law  now  stands,  it  is  claimed  that  when  the  security 
on  a  bond  of  one  of  these  officers  lapses  by  death  or  bankruptcy 
it  does  not  authorize  the  demand  for  a  new  bond.  If  this  be 
so,  the  defect  should  be  immediately  remedied,  and  the  officer 
required  to  file  a  new  bond  within  thirty  days  after  notice,  or  his 
office  declared  vacant. 

The  provisions  of  the  bill  known  as  the  "Funding  Bill," 
of  the  last  session,  should  be  made  to  apply  to  all  officers  of  the 
revenue,  and  a  default  to  pay  over  the  public  moneys  should  be 
declared  a  felony.  Bonds,  however  good,  are  not  sufficient  to 
protect  the  Treasury  against  loss  from  dishonesty  and  fraud. 

With  a  statute  rendering  defaults  a  crime,  and  another  com- 
pelling the  payment  of  all  the  revenues  in  lawful  currency,  the 
frauds  upon  the  Treasury,  and  speculation  in  public  funds  by 
revenue  officers,  will  cease;  as  it  now  stands  it  is  impossible  to 
prevent  them. 

In  every  case  of  default  now  existing,  I  have  uniformly 
instructed  suits  to  be  commenced;  but  the  law  officers  have 
either  been  indulgent  or  found  the  law  inadequate. 

It  has  been  held  that  I  could  not  remove  an  officer  in  the 
absence  of  the  Legislature,  either  for  inadequacy  of  bond,  fraud, 
neglect,  or  any  other  cause,  so  that  when  cases  have  been 
reported  to  me  which  called  for  immediate  action,  I  have  been 
compelled  to  forego  a  remedy.  I  early  called  the  attention  of 
the  Legislature  to  this  difficulty,  but  no  action  was  taken  and 
much  loss  has  occurred  in  consequence. 

RAILROAD    POLICY. 

In  1855  the  State  entered  upon  a  plan  for  the  construction 
of  a  system  of  railroads  that  was  comprehensive  and  highly  cred- 
itable to  the  intelligence  and  sagacity  of  its  projectors,  but  w^hich 
in  its  results  has  been  ingeniously  and  almost  imperceptibly 
expensive. 

Few  of  the  people  understand  that,  besides  the  United  States 
lands  granted,  these  roads  have  cost  the  State  over  three  millions 
of  dollars,  and  have  never  paid  one  cent  of  tax  either  on  their 
lands,  their  property,  or  their  income ;  yet,  so  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, from  the  records  and  sources  of  information  left  by  the 
old  government,  such  is  the  fact. 

f  ^When  this  administration  was  inaugurated  it  found  this  state 
of  things,  viz  : 

The  Florida  road,  154  miles,  sold  by  the  board  of  trustees, 
in  1866,  for  $116,000,  or  $753  per  mile,  leaving  $232,000  in 
mortgage  bonds,  the  interest  of  which  was  guaranteed  by  the 


150  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

State,  with  a  large  amount  of  accumulated  interest,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  which  suits  have  been  commenced ; 

The  Central  road  (from  Jacksonville  to  Lake  City),  60  miles, 
sold  by  the  board  in  1868  for  $111,000,  or  nearly  $1,850  per 
mile,  leaving  an  indefinite  amount  of  unpaid  interest  for  the 
State  to  meet; 

The  Pensacola  and  Georgia,  and  the  Tallahassee  roads,  for- 
feited and  liable  to  be  sold  by  the  board,  with  $1,424,300  bonds 
outstanding,  upon  which  interest  was  accumulating  against  the 
State  of  $99,700  per  annum. 

These  roads  were  immediately  sold  by  the  present  board,  for 
nearly  the  par  value  of  the  bonds,  and  sufficient  to  discharge 
them  and  leave  no  incumbrance  for  the  State,  except  for  unpaid 
interest. 

Thus  we  find  that  the  railroads  cost  the  State  through  the 
Internal  Improvement  Fund,  and  the  counties — 

Lands  conveyed  for  interest,  1,000,000  acres  at  $1.25  $1,250,000 
Proceeds  of  lands  sold  since  1850  to  1868.  .    .    .    .  750,000 

Accumulated  interest  and  indebtedness  now  existing, 

probably 1,000,000 

Amount  of  bonds  given  by  counties 500,000 

The  Legislature  of  1869  changed  the  plan  for  the  comple- 
tion of  the  roads,  and  offered  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $16,000 
per  mile  in  exchange  for  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the  roads. 
While,  individually,  I  was  opposed  to  further  involving  the 
State  in  connection  with  the  roads,  yet  the  almost  unanimous 
voice  of  the  Legislature  favoring  State  aid,  as  in  most  of  the  other 
States,  I  sanctioned  the  plan ;  and  there  would  exist  no  valid 
objection  had  the  issue  been  confined  to  the  extension  of  the 
lines,  instead  of  being  issued  on  the  road  already  built. 

Under  the  new  policy  the  State  holds  the  roads  as  security 
for  the  payment  of  interest  and  principal,  and  will  derive  from 
$20,000  to  $30,000  annual  revenue  from  taxation  of  the  lands 
and  property  and  income  of  the  road. 

Under  the  old  it  had  to  pay  from  $100,000  to  $150,000 
annual  interest,  after  donating  all  the  State  lands  within  six  miles 
on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  both  lands  and  road  were  exempt 
from  taxation. 

LEGISLATIVE    RECORDS. 

I  again  invite  you  to  provide  a  more  stringent  means  of 
protecting  the  legislative  records  and  papers  from  mutilation, 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  I5I 

fraudulent  endorsement,  or  surreptitious  removal  or  destruc- 
tion. It  should  be  made  a  felony  for  an  officer  or  member  of 
the  Legislature,  or  any  officer  of  the  government  to  change, 
suppress,  mutilate,  purloin,  or  in  any  manner  contribute  to 
defraud  the  will  of  the  majority.  Clerks  have  been  known  to 
alter  bills  in  engrossing  and  enrolling ;  journals  have  failed  to 
give  a  correct  record  of  proceedings ;  members  have  removed 
and  suppressed  bills  during  or  on  their  passage,  and  after  pass- 
age, before  they  could  be  signed  by  the  presiding  officers. 
Bills  after  passage  and  enrollment  have  been  found  deposited, 
months  after  adjournment,  in  the  private  desk  of  the  secretary 
of  one  of  the  bodies. 

GRAND    JURORS. 

Either  the  grand  jury  system  should  be  altogether  abolished 
and  criminals  arraigned  directly  before  the  magistrate  or  court, 
or  proper  safeguards  should  be  placed  around  it  so  as  to  prevent 
its  subversion  to  individual  ends  or  malicious  purposes,  and  thus 
made  an  engine  of  oppression  rather  than  a  bulwark  of  protec- 
tion. 

In  the  United  States  District  Court,  the  discretion  given  to 
the  District  Attorney  to  apply  or  dispense  with  the  ''test  oath" 
has  placed  it  within  the  power  of  that  individual,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  United  States  Marshal,  to  mould  the  graiid  jurors  at 
his  will,  and  this  power  has  been  used  to  wrong  and  oppress 
citizens  of  the  State,  innocent  of  crime,  and  caused  enormous 
unnecessary  cost  to  the  Federal  Government. 

In  one  of  the  circuits  of  this  State  (the  second),  also,  I  am 
advised,  that,  by  overriding  the  law  and  imposing  new  tests  not 
nominated  therein,  the  judge  and  attorney  have  taken  control  of 
the  selection  of  the  grand  jury,  and  in  the  same  manner  made  it 
subject  to  their  own  will. 

The  propriety  or  impropriety  of  the  test  does  not  affect  the 
case.  It  is  the  power  to  impose  or  dispense  with  it  at  will  by 
the  attorney  or  the  judge,  after  the  venire  has  been  made  up,  that 
destroys  the  dignity,  independence,  and  impartial  character  of 
the  jury,  and  renders  it  a  vehicle  for  personal  malice  and  injus- 
tice. 

I  do  not  know  that  further  legislation  is  necessary  or  can  be 
made  adequate  to  remove  the  difficulty ;  but  if  it  cannot  be  cor- 
rected, the  Constitution  should  be  amended  and  the  grand  jury 
abolished  altogether. 

Every  Legislature  since  the  inauguration  of  Governor  Reed 
had  shown  itself  corrupt  in  the  highest  degree;  but  the  colored 
members    at    this  session    began    to    show  more  manhood  by 


152  CARPETBAG    RULE    IM    FLORIDA. 

openly  denouncing  the  tricks  of  the  carpet-baggers  and  refus- 
ing to  be  enslaved  by  caucus  rule.  In  these  caucuses  the  carpet- 
baggers had  heretofore  succeeded  in  carrying  their  points  in 
many  instances  by  telling  the  colored  members  that  if  this  meas- 
ure should  pass  the  Democrats  would  be  terribly  outdone  and 
would  make  no  further  opposition  to  the  so-called  Republican 
party  of  the  State;  but  the  ousting  of  Christy  at  the  last  session, 
and  the  attempted  ouster  of  Scott,  colored,  at  the  same  session 
for  a  Democrat  who  had  not  been  elected,  and  the  defeat  of  the 
Civil  Rights  bill  in  the  Senate  through  the  tricks  of  carpet-bag- 
gers, had  a  tendency  to  inaugurate  a  stronger  opposition  to  these 
men  than  had  ever  existed  before.  The  following  resolution, 
introduced  by  Hon.  Daniel  Mclnnis,  colored,  of  Duval  county, 
will  illustrate  this  fact  : 

"Whereas,  It  appears  that  after  several  attempts  to  have 
a  Civil  Rights  bill,  which  gives  to  every  citizen  the  same  protec- 
tion in  the  enjoyment  of  his  liberties;  and,  whereas,  it  has 
become  a  painful  fact  from  the  action  of  Liberty  Billings,  acting 
president  pro  tern,  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  others 
who  are  opposed  to  seeing  the  colored  citizens  of  this  State  enjoy 
the  same  rights  that  he  and  his  associates  do,  we  again  witness 
on  to-day  another  defeat  of  the  Civil  Rights  bill,  caused  by  only, 
those  who  profess  to  be  our  friends  in  connection  with  this  great 
cause  of  civil  rights ;  therefore, 

''Resolved,  That  we,  the  colored  members,  and  those  who 
honestly  sympathize  with  us,  do  unhesitatingly  repudiate  such 
friendship,  and  do  now  and  henceforth  withdraw  from  and 
decline  from  ever  affiUating  with,  politically,  or  to  aid  in  electing 
any  such  man  or  men  who  have  so  basely  misrepresented  our 
people." 

This  resolution  was  considered  as  open  treason  to  the  carpet- 
bag dynasty,  and  the  mover  and  resolution  must  at  once  be  got- 
ten rid  of  for  the  reason  that  its  success  might  cause  other  out- 
breaks. The  resolution  was  ruled  out  of  order  by  Speaker 
Stearns,  of  Freedman's  Bureau  notoriety.  Stearns  was  third  in 
command  of  the  ring  forces  in  Florida,  and  it  would  not  have 
been  well  for  him,  politically,  if  chief  Osborn  had  been  informed 
that  such  treason  had  taken  place,  and  had  succeeded  in  his 
presence.  Mclnnis  was  fought  in  his  county  by  the  ring  because 
he  denounced  them  for  treachery  to  his  people;  and  with  the 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  153 

power  of  the  Federal  office-holders  and  the  ambition  of  some  of 
the  more  ignorant  ones  of  his  race.  Mr.  Mclnnis,  one  of  the 
most  faithful  and  honest  representatives  of  the  colored  people, 
was  prevented  from  being  returned  to  the  Legislature. 

A  resolution  was  offered  by  W.  K.  Cessna,  which  showed 
that  a  decree  pro  confesso  had  been  entered  in  the  United  States 
Court  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  before  W.  B.  Woods  in  favor  of 
Francis  Vose  vs.  Harrison  Reed,  et  al.,  Trustees  of  the  Internal 
Improvement  Fund.  This  decree  was  made  at  Chambers  on  the 
1 6th  day  of  December,  187 1.  The  decree  was  made  and  entered 
without  the  consent  of  the  board  of  the  fund  and  against  the  pro- 
test of  their  attorney  and  solicitor  of  record,  James  B.  C.  Drew, 
truly  made.  Attorney-General  Drew  was  instructed  to  enter  a 
motion  in  the  United  States  Court  in  the  Northern  District  of 
Florida  to  set  aside  the  decree.  A  committee  of  five  was 
appointed  to  investigate  and  report  to  the  Assembly  without  delay 
by  what  means  and  manner,  and  by  whom  such  an  extraordinary 
decree,  disposing  of  the  entire,  or  nearly  the  entire,  domain  of 
the  State  to  a  mischievous  and  bankrupt  railroad  corporation, 
without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  said 
board  of  trustees,  as  appeared  by  a  resolution  of  said  board. 
The  resolution  showed  that  Hon.  John  S.  Adams,  treasurer  of 
the  trustees  of  the  Internal  Improvement  Fund,  had  made  affi- 
davit before  a  magistrate  in  the  county  of  Leon,  on  the  6th  day 
of  January,  1862,  that  one  George  W.  Swepson,  as  confidential 
financial  agent  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  fund  had  received 
on  or  about  the  4th  day  of  April,  1869,  the  sum  of  $472,065,  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  Pensacola  and  Georgia  and  the  Talla- 
hassee railroads,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  outstanding  first 
mortgage  bonds  of  said  railroads.  It  appears  by  said  affidavit 
that  Swepson  had  neglected  and  refused  to  pay  the  said  first 
mortgage  bonds  or  to  account  for  any  moneys  so  received  by 
him.  The  trustees  were  instructed  to  take  such  immediate  steps 
as  would  best  secure  the  payment  of  the  said  moneys,  and  to 
enter  and  vigorously  prosecute  such  legal  actions,  civil  and 
criminal,  against  Swepson  as  would  best  secure  the  said  trustees 
against  the  loss  of  said  large  sum  of  money,  and  punish  the  said 
Swepson  for  his  gross  violation  of  trusts  and  embezzlement.  (See 
Assembly  journal,  regular  session  of  1872,  p.  77  ) 


154  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

On  the  loth  day  of  January  a  resolution  was  unanimously 
passed  by  the  Assembly,  declaring  gigantic  frauds  to  have  been 
committed  in  diversion  of  the  proceeds  of  bonds  issued  under 
the  law  of  1869,  chapter  1,716,  relative  to  the  J.,  P.  &  M. 
Railroad,  and  the  Governor  was  directed  to  issue  no  more  bonds 
until  the  validity  of  the  act  had  been  decided  by  the  courts.  On 
February  ist  a  resolution  was  adopted  ordering  the  arrest  of  M. 
S.  Littlefield  for  his  failure  to  appear  before  the  special  commit- 
tee appointed  to  investigate  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  J.,  P.  & 
M.  Railroad.  Littlefield  was  not  arrested,  and  the  resolution 
was  undoubtedly  passed  to  extort  money  from  him.  The  records 
are  replete  with  such  resolutions  to  deceive  the  public  and  extort 
money  from  individuals  interested  in  any  supposed  public  enter- 
prise where  the  Legislature  would  be  called  upon  to  enable  them 
to  carry  such  enterprises  into  execution.  The  Legislature  of 
187 1  passed  a  concurrent  resolution,  which  emanated  from 
Purman  and  his  immediate  carpetbag  associates,  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  of  five,  three  from  the  Assembly 
and  two  from  the  Senate,  to  proceed  to  the  office  of  the  Treas- 
urer of  the  State  and  ''inspect,  examine  and  compare  the  books, 
files  and  accounts  and  records  of  the  same,  and  to  cancel  and 
destroy  all  Comptroller's  warrants  and  Treasurer's  certificates 
that  may  have  been  received  and  on  file  in  said  office,  excepting 
warrants  issued  under  the  act  approved  February  18,  1870, 
known  as  greenback  scrip."  The  committee  was  directed  to 
make  a  full  report  to  the  Legislature  of  the  accounts  and  condi- 
tion of  the  Treasurer's  office,  and  the  numbers  and  amount  of 
warrants  and  scrip  that  may  have  been  cancelled  and  effectually 
destroyed  by  the  authority  of  said  resolution.  This  committee 
consumed  twenty-one  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  1 87 1  in  a  supposed  searching  examination  to  find  cor- 
ruption. They  reported  that  their  investigation  was  quite  labori- 
ous and  required  deep  scrutiny  into  figures,  and  that  they  had 
honestly  obeyed  the  resolution  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the 
Legislature,  and  had  destroyed  by  fire  $1,175,934.82.  The 
committee  commended  very  highly  the  manner  in  which  the 
Treasurer's  books  were  kept,  but  said  nothing  about  the  books 
of  the  Comptroller.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  accepted 
in  both   Houses,    and  the   committee   discharged.     It  could  be 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  155 

seen  from  the  time  of  the  report  of  this  committee  that  the 
Treasurer,  Conover,  and  Purman,  the  chairman  of  the  commit- 
tee, who  had  not  been  very  intimate  bedfellows,  now  became 
the  best  of  friends. 

Some  time  subsequent  to  the  adoption  of  this  report,  it  was 
discovered  that  some  of  the  committee  must  have  fallen  asleep, 
as  thirty  thousand  dollars,  or  thereabouts,  of  the  certificates 
reported  to  have  been  cancelled  and  denominated  as  "blue 
scrip,"  found  its  way  back  into  the  Treasury  and  was  again 
paid  by  the  State.  (See  report  of  Senate  committee,  journal  of 
1872,  p.  377.) 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature  rebellious  outbreaks  by 
the  colored  members  were  very  frequent  and  disastrous  to  the 
carpet-bag  plunder  system.  The  delegation  elected  from  Leon 
county,  all  colored,  was  elected  against  the  deadly  opposition  of 
the  ring,  and  stood  opposed  to  the  system  of  plunder,  which  had 
been  inaugurated  in  almost  every  county  of  the  State.  The 
author  of  this  work  and  John  W.  Wyatt  had  been  fought  very 
bitterly  by  the  ring  during  their  canvass  in  1871  for  the  Legis- 
lature, and  it  was  whispered  that  fraud  would  be  committed 
to  keep  us  out  of  our  seats ;  but  the  whites  in  the  county 
stood  with  us  as  against  the  ring,  and  therefore  they  were 
afraid  to  attempt  it.  One  can  imagine  about  how  much  love 
existed  between  the  Leon  county  delegation  and  the  ring. 
W.  H.  Gleason  and  other  carpet-baggers,  thinking  to  soon  get 
rid  of  Reed  by  impeachment,  commenced  getting  their  schemes 
in  readiness  for  transformation  into  laws.  An  infamous  scheme 
was  introduced  by  Gleason,  of  Dade,  "to  authorize  corpora- 
tions to  change  their  names,  consolidate  their  capital  stock 
and  merge  their  corporate  powers."  This  measure  was  adopted 
by  the  caucus  without  any  apparent  opposition,  the  Leon  dele- 
gation not  voting  for  or  against  the  measure  in  the  caucus. 
This  action  on  the  part  of  the  delegation  led  Gleason  and  the 
other  members  in  the  scheme  to  believe  that  all  present  were 
bound  by  the  action  of  the  caucus.  The  Democrats  of  the 
Assembly  were  notified  as  to  the  action  of  the  caucus  and  agreed 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  a  grand  assault  against 
the  bill  when  it  came  up  for  consideration.  When  the  meas- 
ure came  up  for    final    consideration,   Gleason,  now  confident 


156  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

that  things  were  all  right,  led  off  in  support  of  the  bill.  The 
Leon  delegation  followed  in  opposition,  much  to  the  surprise 
of  Gleason  and  the  other  friends  of  the  bill.  Long  faces 
could  be  discovered  among  the  members  of  the  ring  as  the 
Democrats  would  ai)plaud  John  W.  Wyatt,  colored,  as  he 
thundered  against  the  bill.  This  speech  of  Mr.  Wyatt  was 
the  first  ever  ordered  spread  on  the  journal  in  the  Legislature  of 
Florida.     The  speech  was  as  follows : 

Mr.  Speaker: 

There  is  to  all  appearances  a  dark  and  hidden  meaning 
enveloped  in  the  bill  now  before  this  Assembly,  introduced  by 
the  honorable  member  from  Dade,  which  I  desire  to  call 
attention  to.  The  title  of  this  bill  is  to  -'authorize  corporations 
to  change  their  names,  consolidate  their  capital  stock,  and  merge 
their  corporate  powers." 

We  should  ponder  well  over  each  sentence  embraced  in 
the  title.  In  the  first  place  why  should  corporations  desire  to 
consolidate  unless  by  the  unity  and  coalition  thus  formed  they 
intended  to  become  a  vast  and  extended  power,  governing  the 
people  and  exercising  an  influence,  the  magnitude  of  which 
would  appall  us?  Then  again,  this  consolidation  of  power 
would  wield  a  powerful  influence  for  good  or  evil,  and  experi- 
ence and  history  furnishes  proof  that  large,  all-absorbing  com- 
panies generally  exert  their  influence  in  an  evil  direction. 
Such  a  consolidation  would  engender  dissatisfaction  and  cause 
disorder  and  distress  among  corporations  of  less  weight,  and 
would  jDe  fraught  with  many  disadvantages  to  parties  desiring 
to  invest  a  small  amount  of  capital.  Capital  needs  no  legislation 
in  order  to  provide  for  its  use.  Capital  is  strong  enough  to  take 
care  and  provide  for  itself,  but  corporations  are  a  dangerous 
power,  especially  large  or  consolidated  corporations,  and  the 
American  people  fear  them  and  view  them  with  distrust. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad,  which 
has  and  is  daily  encircling  with  extended  arms  the  smaller 
roads  and  railway  corporations  throughout  the  Union.  As  a 
result  of  such  consolidations,  look  what  a  stretch  of  power 
and  authority  is  placed  within  the  hands  of  Thomas  Scott, 
the  president  of  that  railroad.  We,  who  are  here  in  Florida, 
cannot  conceive  of  the  vastness  of  his  schemes.  We  are  too 
far  removed  from  his  field  of  operations,  but  I  am  credibly 
informed  that,  by  means  of  the  power  that  he  and  his  board  of 
directors  possess,  they  carry  everything  desired  throughout  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania. 

W     want  no    Tom  Scotts,  Jim  Fisks  or    Vanderbilts   in  this 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 57 

State  to  govern  us,  by  means  of  which  they  would  influence  leg- 
islation tending  to  advance  personal  interests. 

The  great  curse  of  Florida  has  been  dishonest  corporations, 
rings  and  cliques,  with  an  eye  single  to  their  central  interest, 
and  if  this  bill  is  suffered  to  pass  this  Assembly,  in  my  opinion 
we  may  look  for  a  continuation  of  abuses  and  a  usurpation  of 
the  rights  of  citizens  who  may  be  opposed  to  the  evil  machina- 
tions such  as  are  generally  exerted  by  consolidated  bodies. 

The  second  clause  in  the  title  of  this  bill  is  to  consolidate 
their  capital  stock.  What  a  palpable  farce  !  Look,  gentlemen, 
thoroughly  into  this  sentence.  If  such  glaring  opportunities  for 
swindling,  and  forcing  preconcerted  measures,  are  fostered  and 
encouraged  by  this  Assembly,  we  would  be  denounced  and 
aspersions  of  a  foul  nature  be  cast  at  our  character,  even  by  our 
constituents.  They  send  us  here  to  legislate  wisely  for  the  good  of 
the  people  of  this  State,  and  not  to  favor  jobs  and  schemes  that 
emanate  from  the  brain  of  political  tricksters,  and  intriguing  and 
designing  parties. 

We  are  here  for  a  different  purpose.  We  are  assembled 
here  to  guard  the  interests  of  this  State.  Does  this  measure  now 
before  us  tend  to  foster  or  enhance  the  condition  of  this  State  ? 
No !  It  is  plainly  a  coercive  measure,  intended  to  engulf  the 
capital  of  minor  corporations. 

Were  this  bill  to  pass,  men  of  limited  means  would  be 
extremely  cautious  about  investing  in  or  giving  aid  to  corpora- 
tions, for  fear  their  capital  stock  would  be  swallowed  up  by 
some  tottering  and  unsound  institution,  and  used  to  bolster  up 
and  furnish  additional  strength  to  a  rotten  corporation. 

What  assurance  would  be  given  to  the  minority  of  stock- 
holders of  a  company,  that  had  been  merged  into  another  and 
their  capital  stock  consolidated,  that  would  satisfy  them  that 
their  rights  would  be  safely  protected  after  having  been  coerced 
into  a  scheme  which  they  supposed  to  be  fraudulent  ? 

The  last  clause  in  this  title  is,  "to  merge  their  corporate 
powers."  This  sentence  certainly  needs  careful  examination, 
for  I  can  readily  see  that  it  will  prove  a  most  dangerous  combi- 
nation of  power,  and  it  should  be  strenuously  opposed  by  the 
whole  strength  of  this  Assembly. 

Each  corporation  has  certain  powers  and  privileges 
embodied  within  its  sphere  of  action,  and  it  is  now  proposed  to 
merge  the  powers  of  the  different  corporations  and  embrace 
them  all  in  one  strong  and  all-powerful  combination. 

The  recent  expose  of  the  Tammany  Ring  in  New  York  has 
satisfied  all  right  thinking  men  that  the  power  exercised  by  strong 
bodies,  composed  of  many  corporations,  is  the  most  dangerous 
to  the  public  good  and  safety.     Therefore  it  ill  becomes    us  to 


158  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

pass  a  bill  enveloped  in   darkness,  as  the   title  to  this  bill  indi- 
cates it  to  be. 

The  gentleman  who  introduced  this  bill,  it  would  seem,  has 
a  hobby  for  corporations.  I  am  credibly  informed  that  his  sig- 
nature is  attached  to  no  less  than  eight  articles  of  association  in 
this  State.  Doubtless  the  true  intent  of  this  bill  is  to  consolidate 
these  eight  corporations,  with  their  powers  and  capital  stock, 
into  one  grand  scheme  for  the  controlling  of  future  public  works 
requiring  State  aid.  As  a  sample  of  the  magnitude  and  grand- 
ness  of  these  schemes,  I  will  here  state  that  one  of  the  eight 
corporations  above  mentioned  declares  its  capital  at  ten  millions 
of  dollars.  The  shares  are  fixed  at  the  low  price  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  each.  By  referring  to  the  Laws  of  1868, 
Chapter  1,639,  ^^-  i5»  I  ^^^  ^^"^  exhaustive  law  on  corporations, 
which  fully  dictates  their  duties,  powers  and  liabilities,  etc.,  and 
I  deem  it  imprudent  to  interfere  with  this  law,  because  I  find  it 
fully  answers  all  the  requirements  of  a  legal  body  corporate. 
Therefore,  Mr.  Speaker,  as  there  is  much  doubt  and  uncertainty 
existing  regarding  the  usefulness  and  effectiveness,  in  a  right 
direction,  of  the  powers  which  this  bill  would  grant,  I  move 
that  it  be  indefinitely  postponed. 

We  now  come  to  the  last  and  most  desperate  attempt  to  get 
rid  of  Governor  Reed  by  impeachment.  This  time  the  farce 
was  not  conducted  with  even  the  faint  semblance  of  fairness 
which  was  displayed  in  the  last  attempt.  The  ring  being  out- 
generaled in  their  former  attempts,  were  determined  to  conduct 
things  on  the  ex  parte  and  Star  Chamber  plan.  The  resolution 
of  investigation  did  not  mention  the  name  of  Governor  Reed, 
but  State  ofiicials ;  and  the  less  informed  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature did  not  know  what  was  going  on.  During  the  investiga- 
tion. Republican  caucuses  were  held  in  the  Assembly  hall  two 
and  three  times  a  week,  and  the  state  of  the  country  and  the 
Republican  party  were  fully  discussed.  Cessna,  the  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Investigation,  would  be  put  forward  to  stir 
the  blood  of  the  colored  brother  by  singing  ''John  Brown's 
body  lies  mouldering  in  the  clay,"  *'  Sherman's  March  through 
Georgia,"  etc.  While  singing  these  songs  Cessna  could  imitate 
the  plantation  negro  preacher  in  looks,  voice  and  acts  as  no 
other  carpet-bagger  could,  and  in  many  instances  could  put  to 
shame  the  best  negro  minstrel.  These  songs  being  considered 
old  freedom  songs,  made  Cessna  very  popular  with  most  of  the 
colored  members.     Nothing  would  be  said    in  the  caucus  with 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IX    FLORIDA.  1 59 

reference  to  impeachment,  but  Purman  would  be  on  hand  to 
denounce  Reed  and  tell  the  colored  brother  "  if  God  would  take 
Reed  out  of  the  way  it  would  be  better  for  them  and  the  Repub- 
lican party."  This  argument,  in  connection  with  Cessna's  songs, 
had  great  effect  on  many  of  the  colored  members  and  on  the 
less  informed  whites  as  well.  The  most  of  the  Democratic 
members  at  this  session,  as  in  the  former  session,  were  in  favor 
of  impeachment,  not  because  they  believed  Reed's  traducers 
were  honest,  but  because  they  knew  that  every  attempt  at 
impeachment  would  strengthen  them  and  imperil  honest  Repub- 
licanism. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  Cessna's  investigating  committee 
made  its  report,  which  was  loaded  with  numerous  charges  against 
Governor  Reed.  These  charges  sounded  so  very  damaging  that 
some  of  the  Governor's  most  intimate  friends  were  deceived  by 
them  and  went  to  him  and  asked  him  to  resign  his  office.  The 
Governor  said  to  them  that  if  the  Legislature  would  give  him 
an  half  hour  he  would  refute  successfully  every  charge  they  had 
reported  against  him,  and  he  felt  perfectly  confident  that  he 
would  be  clearly  exonerated,  if  he  were  allowed  a  hearing  before 
the  High  Court  of  Impeachment,  in  case  he  should  be  impeached 
by  the  Assembly.  John  R.  Scott,  of  Duval  County,  spoke  in 
favor  of  Governor  Reed,  but  afterwards,  as  was  prearranged, 
voted  for  the  report  for  the  usual  consideration.  The  report 
was  unanimously  adopted,  and  Governor  Reed  stood  suspended. 
The  report  was  ordered  spread  on  the  journal,  but  it,  with  the 
alleged  evidence,  was  suppressed,  and  even  the  order  does  not 
appear  upon  the  journal.  Governor  Reed  was  never  allowed 
to  know  what  allegations  were  made.  A  committee  of  seven  was 
appointed  to  immediately  present  articles  of  impeachment  to  the 
Senate.  Another  committee  of  three  was  appointed  by  the  chair 
to  go  to  the  Senate  .and  at  the  bar  thereof,  in  the  name  of  the 
Assembly  and  of  all  the  people  of  Florida,  to  impeach  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors 
in  office,  and  that  the  committee  demand  that  the  Senate  take 
order  for  the  aforesaid  Harrison  Reed  to  answer  to  said  impeach- 
ment. Boyd,  Cessna  and  Duke  were  appointed  as  said  com- 
mittee. The  committee  performed  its  duty,  and  the  Senate  took 
order  accordingly.     A  committee  consisting  of  Cessna,  Graham, 


l6o  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

of  Manatee,  Gibbs,  Hires,  Johnson,  Osgood  and  Wallace,  was 
appointed  to  prepare  and  report  articles  of  impeachment  against 
the  Governor.  As  one  of  the  members  of  the  committee,  I 
never  saw  the  report  of  the  investigating  committee  nor  any 
other  evidences  upon  which  the  subsequent  articles  of  impeach- 
presented  by  the  committee  were  based.  Cessna  pulled  a  roll 
of  papers  out  of  his  pocket,  which  he  said  were  the  articles  he 
would  present.  They  had  been  prepared  by  Fred  Dockray, 
Reed's  old  enemy,  made  so  because  the  Governor  had  refused 
to  appoint  him  Attorney-General.  The  following  is  the  report 
of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  articles  of  impeach- 
ment. 

Hon.  M.  L.  Stearns,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly : 

Sir — Your  Special  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  and  re- 
port Articles  of  Impeachment  against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor, 
begleave  to  report  for  the  action  of  this  Assembly  the  accompany 
ing  articles. 

W.  K.  CESSNA,  Chairman, 

CHAS.  F.  HIERS, 

C.  GILLIS, 

EDGAR  M.  GRAHAM, 

J.  W.  JOHNSON, 

J.  WALLACE, 

ALFRED  B.  OSGOOD. 


ARTICLES  OF  IMPEACHMENT 

Exhibited  by  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida,  in  the  name 
of  themselves  and  of  all  the  people  of  Florida,  against  Har- 
rison Reed,  Governer  of  Florida,  in  maintenance  and  sup- 
port of  their  impeachment  against  him  for  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors  in  office,  for  incompetency  and  malfeasance, 
and  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals : 

article  I. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  at  Talla- 
hassee, in  the  State  of  Florida,  unmindful  of  the  high  duties  of 
his  office,  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  of  the  requirement  of  the 
Constitution   that  he  shall  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  exe- 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  l6l 

cuted,  did  unlawfully  and  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  cause  to  be  issued,  and  did  himself 
sign  his  official  signature  as  Governor,  to  a  large  number  of 
State  bonds  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
thousand  ($528,000)  dollars  in  excess  of  the  amount  of  bonds 
authorized  to  be  issued  by  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  Florida,  entided  an  act  to  alter  and  amend  an  act  entitled  an 
act  to  perfect  the  public  works  of  the  State,  approved  June  24, 
A.  D.  1869,  approved  January  28,  A.  D.  1870,  with  intent  then 
and  there  to  violate  the  said  act,  whereby  the  said  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was 
guilty  of  a  high  crime  in  office,  of  imcompetency  and  malfea- 
sance. 

ARTICLE    II. 

That  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy,  at  Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida,  said  Harri- 
son Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  unmindful  of  the  high  duties  of 
his  office,  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in  violation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  an 
act  entitled  an  act  to  alter  and  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  to 
perfect  the  public  works  of  the  State,  approved  June  24,  A.  D. 
1869,  approved  January  28,  1870,  did  then  and  there,  with 
intent  to  violate  the  Constitution  of  the  State  and  the  act  afore- 
said, and  without  authority  of  law,  fraudulendy  conspire  to  issue 
State  bonds  to  the  amount  of  one  million  dollars  ($1,000,000), 
for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  the  stock  of  the  Florida,  Atlantic 
and  Gulf  Central  Railroad  Company,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
persons  and  parties,  and  with  full  knowledge  of  and  consent  to  said 
purpose,  and  in  collusion  with  such  persons  and  parties,  for  his 
and  their  pecuniary  benefit,  whereby  said  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a 
high  crime  in  office,  and  of  incompetency  and  malfeasance. 

ARTICLE     III. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  unmindful 
of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  at 
Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida,  did  cause  to  be  issued  and 
did  himself  sign  his  official  signature  as  Governor,  to  one  million 
dollars  of  State  Bonds,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  the  stock 
of  the  Florida,  Atlantic  and  Gulf  Central  Railroad  Company  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  persons  and  parties,  contrary  to  and  in 
violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  of  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  especially  in  violation  of  an  act 
of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Florida,  entided  an  act  to  alter 
11 


l62  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

and  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  perfect  the  public  works  of 
the  State,  approved  June  24,  A.  D.  1869,  approved  January  28, 
A.  D.  1870,  and  with  intent  to  violate  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  and  especially  said  act,  whereby  the  said  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  com- 
mit and  was  guilty  of  a  high  crime  in  office,  and  of  incompe- 
tency and  malfeasance. 

ARTICLE    IV. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  at  Talla- 
hassee, in  the  State  of  Florida,  unmindful  of  the  high  duties  of 
his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  State,  and  especially  of  an  act  entitled 
an  act  to  alter  and  amend,  etc.,  did  cause  to  be  issued,  and  did 
himself  sign  his  official  signature  as  Governor,  to  four  million 
dollars  of  State  bonds  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Jacksonville, 
Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  Company  in  the  State  of  Florida, 
having  full  notice  of  the  fraudulent  title  of  said  company  to  the 
property  of  the  Pensacola  and  Georgia  and  Tallahassee  railroads, 
and  with  intent  to  violate  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State 
of  Florida,  and  especially  of  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  Florida  entitled  an  act  to  alter  and  amend  an  act  entitled  an 
act  to  perfect  the  public  works  of  the  State  approved  June  24, 
A.  D.  1869,  approved  January  28,  A.  D.  1870,  whereby  the 
said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  etc. 

ARTICLE    V. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  at 
Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida,  unmindful  of  the  high  duties 
of  his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  did  unlawfully  conspire 
with  one  David  L.  Yulee,  and  with  other  persons  unknown,  to 
issue  bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida,  to  the  amount  of  one  mil- 
lion dollars  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  said  Yulee  and  other  per- 
sons, in  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  and 
especially  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Florida  entitled  an  act  to  perfect  the  public  works  of 
the  State,  approved  June  24,  A.  D.  1869,  and  with  intent  to 
violate  and  disregard  the  said  acts,  whereby  the  said  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was 
guilty  of  a  high  crime  in  office  and  of  incompetency  and  mal- 
feasance. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 63 

ARTICLE    VI. 

That  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  on  or  about  the 
fifteenth  day  of  November,  A.  D.  187 1,  at  Tallahassee,  in  the 
State  of  Florida,  and  at  divers  other  times,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  at  Talla- 
hassee, in  the  State  of  Florida,  and  at  New  York  city,  unmind- 
ful of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and 
in  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  and 
especially  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Florida  entitled  an  act  to  perfect  the  public 
works  of  the  State,  approved  June  24,  A.  D.  1869,  did  cause  to 
be  issued,  and  did  himself  sign  his  official  signature  to  one  mil- 
lion of  dollars  of  State  bonds  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  one 
David  L.  Yulee,  and  of  other  persons  unknown,  with  intent  to 
violate  and  disregard  the  provisions  of  said  act,  whereby  the 
said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there 
commit  and  was  guilty  of  a  high  crime  in  office  and  of  incompe- 
tency and  malfeasance. 

ARTICLE    VII, 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  and  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy, 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  at  divers  other  times  and  places  in 
said  years,  unmmdful  of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  and  of  his 
oath  of  office,  and  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  State  of  Florida,  and  especially  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  Florida,  entitled  an  act  to  fund  the  outstanding  debt 
of  the  State,  approved  August  6,  1868,  and  an  act  entitled  an  act 
to  fund  the  outstanding  debt  of  the  State,  approved  February 
I,  1869,  did  fraudulently  conspire  with  one  Milton  S.  Littlefield, 
and  with  divers  other  persons,  to  embezzle  the  moneys  received 
from  the  hypothecation  of  State  bonds  issued  under  and  by 
authority  of  the  aforesaid  acts  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  and  did  embezzle  a  large  amount  of  the  moneys  received 
from  the  said  bonds,  to-wit,  the  amount  of  $22,000,  with  intent 
then  and  there  to  violate  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and 
especially  the  said  acts,  whereby  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a  high 
crime  in  office,  and  of  incompetency  and  malfeasance. 

ARTICLE    VIII. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  a' 


164  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida,  unmindful  of  the  high  duties 
of  his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  did  receive  from  Milton  S. 
Littlefield  the  sum  of  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a^  a 
consideration  to  influence  his  official  action  in  sustaining  the 
claim  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  Com- 
pany to  the  title  of  the  property  of  the  Pensacola  and  Georgia 
and  Tallahassee  and  Florida,  Atlantic  and  Gulf  Central  Rail- 
roads, and  as  a  further  consideration  to  influence  his  official 
action  in  all  matters  between  the  State  of  Florida  and  the  said 
Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  Company,  whereby 
the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  did  commit  and  was  guilty 
of  a  high  crime  in  office,  of  incompetency  and  malfeasance,  and 
of  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals. 

ARTICLE    IX. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixiy-eight,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  at  divers  other  times  and  places  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine, 
unmindful  of  the  high  duties  of  his  office  and  of  his  oath  of 
office,  and  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
State  of  Florida,  and  with  intent  then  and  there  to  violate 
and  disregard  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida, 
did  then  and  there  conspire  with  one  Charles  Pond  and  with 
one  E.  B.  Bulkley  of  the  city  of  New  York,  to  defraud  the  State 
of  Florida  of  Fifteen  Thousand  Dollars  ($15,000)  of  Bonds  of 
the  State  of  Florida,  and  in  pursuance  of  said  conspiracy  did 
defraud  the  State  of  Florida  of  Fifteen  Thousand  Dollars  of  the 
Bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida  applied  to  the  purchase  of  arms 
and  equipments  for  the  State  of  Florida,  whereby  the  said  Har- 
rison Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit 
and  was  guilty  of  a  high  crime  in  office  and  of  incompetency 
and  malfeasance. 

ARTICLE  X. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  at  Tal- 
lahassee, in  the  State  of  Florida,  unmindful  of  the  high  duties  of 
his  office  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  especially  of  the 
act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Florida,  entitled  an  act  to 
provide  for  and  encourage  a  liberal  system  of  Internal  Improve- 
ments in  this  State,  approved  January  6,  A.  D.  1855,  and  with 
full  intent  to  violate  said  act,  did  receive  from  one  I.  K.  Rob- 
erts, Esq.,  in  behalf  of  the  Florida  Railroad  Company,  a  draft 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  165 

for  the  sum  of  Eleven  Hundred  and  Forty  Dollars  ($1140)  which 
was  paid  in  currency  of  the  United  States  to  said  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor  and  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Internal 
Improvement  Fund  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  did  tender  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Florida  Scrip  of  the  State  in  lieu  of  said 
currency,  which  was  due  to  the  Sinking  Fund  on  account  of  said 
Florida  Railroad  Company,  whereby  the  said  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor  of  Florida,  was  guilty  of  a  high  crime  in  office  and  of 
incompetency  and  malfeasance. 

ARTICLE    XL 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the 
month  of  January  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  at  Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida, 
unmindful  of  the  high  duties  of  his  office  and  of  the  dignities 
and  proprieties  thereof,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in  violation 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  and  of  the  laws  thereof,  and 
with  intent  to  violate  and  disregard  his  official  duties  and  of  the 
requirements  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Flor- 
ida, did  conspire  to  influence  one  J.  W.  Toer,  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  in  the  exercise  of  his  judicial  action  upon  a  case  pend- 
ing before  1  im,  to-wit:  "  The  case  of  the  State  of  Florida  against 
George  W.  Swepson,"  whereby  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a 
high  crime  and  misdemeanor  in  office  and  of  incompetency  and 
malfeasance. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

That  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  at  Jack- 
sonville, in  the  State  of  Florida,  in  violation  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  of  the  high  duties  of  his  office 
and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  with  full  intent  to  violate  and  dis- 
regard the  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  did  unlawfully  conspire 
with  one  Aaron  Barnett  to  prostitute  his  official  influence  and 
position  to  the  uses  and  purposes  of  the  said  Barnett,  in  receiving 
the  sum  of  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  ($10,000)  from  the  said  Bar- 
nett for  his  official  sanction  and  signature  to  a  contract  for  the 
conveyance  of  Internal  Improvement  lands  to  the  said  Barnett 
as  assignee  of  said  contract  from  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and 
Mobile  Railroad  Company,  and  did  receive  the  said  sum  of 
Ten  Thousand  Dollars  ($10,000)  from  the  said  Barnett  for  the 
reasons  and  purposes  aforesaid,  whereby  the  said  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and 
was  guilty  of  a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor  in  office,  of  incom- 


1 66  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

petency  and    malfeasance,  and  of  conduct  detrimental  to  good 
morals. 

And  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida,  by  protestation, 
saving  to  itself  the  liberty  of  exhibiting  at  any  time  hereafter 
any  further  Articles  or  other  Accusations  on  Impeachment 
against  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  and  also 
of  replying  to  his  answers  which  he  shall  make  unto  the  Articles 
herein  preferred  against  him,  and  of  offering  proof  to  the  same 
and  every  part  thereof,  and  to  all  and  every  other  Article,  Accu- 
sation or  Impeachment  which  shall  be  exhibited  by  them  as  the 
case  shall  require,  do  demand,  that  the  said  Harrison  Reed  may 
be  put  to  answer  the  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  in  office 
herein  charged  against  him,  and  that  such  proceedings,  exami- 
nations, trials  and  judgments  may  be  thereupon  had  and  given 
as  may  be  agreeable  to  law  and  justice. 

After  reading  these  articles,  John  W.  Butler,  of  Santa  Rosa 
County,  offered  a  resolution  that  the  Assembly  resolve  itself  into 
a  committee  of  the  whole  and  attend  the  managers  appointed  by 
the  Assembly  to  present  the  Articles  of  Impeachment  exhibited 
by  the  Assembly  against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida  ; 
and  at  5  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  whole  body,  preceded  by  its  chair- 
man, supported  by  the  clerks  of  the  Assembly,  followed  the 
managers  to  the  Senate  chamber  and  presented  the  Articles. 
The  Assembly,  after  a  brief  absence,  returned  and  the  committee 
rose.     The  follow^ing  order  was  taken  by  the  Senate  : 

Mr.  Purman  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

Whereas,  The  Assembly,  on  this  loth  day  of  February, 
1872,  by  a  committee  of  their  members,  at  the  bar  of  the  Sen- 
ate, impeached  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  of  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors,  incompetency,  malfeasance  in  office,  and  con- 
duct detrimental  to  good  morals,  and  informed  the  Senate  that 
the  Assembly  will  in  due  time  exhibit  particular  articles  of 
impeachment  against  him,  and  make  good  the  same,  and  like- 
wise demanded  that  the  Senate  take  order  for  the  appearance 
of  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  to  answer  to  said  impeach- 
ment ;  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  will  take  proper  order  thereon,  of 
which  due  notice  shall  be  given  to  the  Assembly; 

Which  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Wentworth  offered  the  following  resolution  : 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 67 

Whereas,  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  has  been  this  day 
impeached  by  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida  of  high 
c.'imes  and  misdemeanors,  incompetency,  malfeasance  in  office, 
and  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals; 

Resolved^  That  the  President  of  the  Senate  be,  and  he  is 
hereby,  ordered  to  issue  his  warrant  issuing  to  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms  of  the  Senate,  directing  him  to  notify  the  said  Harrison 
Reed,  Governor,  that  he  has  this  day  been  impeached  by  the 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida  of  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors, incompetency,  malfeasance  in  office,  and  conduct  det- 
rimental to  good  morals,  and  that  he  is  deemed  under  arrest  and 
disqualified  from  performing  any  of  the  duties  of  his  office  as 
Governor  of  Florida  until  acquitted  by  the  Senate  of  Florida,  and 
the  Sergeant-at-Arms  is  hereby  ordered  and  directed  to  make 
return  to  this  body  at  once  of  his  doing  herein; 

Which  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Henderson  offered  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved  by  the  Seiiaie,  That  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  Flor- 
ida will  organize  as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  trial  of  His  Excellency  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  on  Tuesday  next,  13th,  inst.,  at  12  o'clock  m. 

Mr.  Jenkins  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  will  proceed  to  organize  as  a 
High  Court  of  Impeachment  for  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor,  on  the  14th  inst.,  at  12  o'clock  i\i. 

Resolved^  further,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  imme- 
diately notify  the  Assembly  -of  the  adoption  of  this  resolution. 

Mr.  Henderson  moved  that  the  substitute  be  laid  on  the 
table. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for,  with  the  following 
result : 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative  were — 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Crawford,  Ginn,  Henderson, 
Kendrick,  McKinnon,  Moragne,  McCaskill,  Sutton  and  Weeks 
— II. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were — 

Messrs.  Billings,  Dennis,  Eagan,  Hill,  Hillyer,  Jenkins, 
Johnson,  Locke,  Meacham,  Pearce,  Purman  and  Wentworth — 
12. 

So  it  was  not  laid  on  the  table. 

The  substitute  was  then  adopted. 

Mr.  Henderson  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved  by  the  Senate,  That  a  committee  of  three  be 
appointed  to  notify  the  Hon.  E.  M.  Randall,  Chief  Justice  of 
the  State  of  Florida,  that  the  House  of  Representatives  of  this 
State,  have,  through  their  committee,  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the 


l68  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Senate,  and  impeached  His  Excellency  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  that  the  Sen- 
ate will  organize  as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment  on  Wednes- 
day, the  14th  inst. ,  for  the  purpose  of  the  trial  of  the  said  Har- 
rison Reed,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  be  ])resent  to  preside  at 
the  same. 

Which  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Henderson  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  instructed  to 
notify  His  Excellency  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida, 
that  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  have  this  day 
appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate,  and  in  the  name  of  all  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Florida,  impeached  him,  the  said  Harri- 
son Reed,  Governor,  etc.,  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors, 
and  that  the  Senate  have  passed  a  resolution,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  copy  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  will  proceed  to  organize  as  a 
High  Court  of  Impeachment  for  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor,  on  the  14th  inst,  at   12  o'clock  m. 

Resolved,  further,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  imme- 
diately notify  the  Assembly  of  the  adoption  of  this  resolution : 

Which  was  adopted. 

Reed  having  been  impeached,  the  conspirators  were  anxious, 
in  case  they  were  forced  to  try  him,  to  secure  beforehand  all  the 
votes  they  could  for  conviction,  whether  the  evidence  warranted 
it  or  not.  They  knew  that  Liberty  Billings,  who  was  of  the 
defunct  *' mule  team  "  faction,  and  then  Senator  from  Nassau 
County,  had  no  good  blood  for  Purman  and  that  gang,  so  they 
sought  to  secure  his  vote  by  electing  him  president  pro  tern,  of 
the  Senate,  which  placed  him  in  position  as  Lieutenant-Governor. 
All  the  conspirators  voted  for  him,  and  he  was  accordingly 
elected.  The  Sergeant-at-Arms  returned  and  made  return  that 
he  had  duly  complied  with  the  order  of  the  Senate,  and  had 
served  a  copy  of  his  warrant  upon  His  Excellency,  Harrison 
Reed.  A  committee  of  three  was  appointed  to  attend  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor to  the  executive  chamber  to  take  the  oath  of 
office.  Day  now  assumed  the  office  of  Governor  by  proclamation, 
but  it  is  noticeable  that  the  proclamation  was  not  attested  by  any 
Secretary  of  State.  The  Democrats  had  by  this  time  become 
very  much  dissatisfied  in  reference  to  Articles  V  and  VI  because 
they  reflected  upon  the  character  of  ex-United  States  Senator 
David  L.    Yulee.     Some  of  them  threatened  to  combine  with 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  169 

Governor  Reed  against  the  conspirators  if  those  articles  were  not 
withdrawn,  and  in  order  to  bridge  over  this  threatened  gulf  mid- 
way, the  conspirators  planned  the  following  resolution  and  addi- 
tional articles,  which  were  adopted  : 

Mr.  Graham,  of  Manatee,  was  allowed  to  offer  the  follow- 
ing resolutions : 

Whereas,  The  journals  of  this  House  incidentally  reflect 
on  the  Hon.  D.  L.  Yulee  in  the  matter  of  the  Articles  of  Impeach, 
ment  against  Harrison  Reed ;  and,  whereas,  upon  subsequent 
examination,  we  find  that  great  injustice  has  been  unintention- 
ally done  Mr.  Yulee  in  the  said  articles ;  therefore, 

Resohed,  That  the  managers  appointed  by  this  House  to 
present  the  aforesaid  Articles  of  Impeachment  to  the  Senate,  sit- 
ting as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment,  are  hereby  ordered  and 
instructed  to  withdraw  from  the  said  Articles  of  Impeachment 
any  matter  which  may  in  any  manner  reflect  in  a  censurable 
manner  upon  the  Hon.  David  L.  Yulee,  and  for  that  purpose  are 
hereby  instructed  to  withdraw  Articles  V  and  VI  of  the  said 
Articles  of  Impeachment  for  amendment ;  that  a  copy  of  this  reso- 
lution be  handed  to  the  Hon.  David  L.  Yulee  by  the  Chief 
Clerk  of  the  House,  and  that  the  same  be  spread  on  the  journals 
thereof. 

Resolved,  That  the  managers  be  and  are  hereby  instructed 
to  present  the  following  additional  Articles  of  Impeachment 
against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida  : 

additional  articles  of  impeachment  and  replication  to 
the  pleas  filed  by  harrison  reed,  governor. 

article  xiii. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  unmindful 
of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in 
violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida, 
between  the  8th  day  of  September,  A.  D.  1868,  and  the  ist  day 
of  July,  A.  D.  1869,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  did  unlawfully  and 
improperly  appropriate  moneys  belonging  to  the  State  of 
Florida,  to-wit :  The  sum  of  $6,948.63,  placed  in  his  possession 
by  James  D.  Westcott,  Jr.,  and  received  by  him  as  a  Trustee — 
in  this :  That  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  did  substitute 
for  said  moneys  certain  securities  of  the  State  of  Florida,  pur- 
chased by  him  at  a  large  discount,  and  did  pay  said  securities 
into  the  Treasury  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  appropriate  to 
his  own  personal  use  and  benefit  the  difference  arising  from  said 
speculation,  and  with  intent  then  and  there  to  defraud  the  State 


lyo  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

of  the  full  value  of  said  moneys  in  his  hands  as  Trustee  for  the 
people  of  the  State,  whereby  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a  high 
crime  and  misdemeanor  in  office,  of  incompetency  and  malfea- 
sance. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

Tliat  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  unmindful 
of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  in  viola- 
tion of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  at  Talla- 
hassee, in  the  State  of  Florida,  on  or  about  the  ist  day  of  Janu- 
ary, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy,  and  on  divers  other  days  and  times  in  said  year,  also 
on  divers  other  days  and  times  in  the  years  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one  and  seventy-two,  did 
embezzle  moneys  belonging  to  the  State  of  Florida,  to-wit :  The 
sum  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-seven  dollars  and 
twenty-four  cents  ($1,897.24),  in  the  possession  of  Jonathan  C. 
Gibbs,  Secretary  of  State,  and  did  appropriate  said  moneys  to  his 
own  use,  benefit  and  purposes,  then  and  there  with  intent  to 
violate  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  whereby 
said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  did  then  and  there 
commit  and  was  guilty  of  a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor  in  office, 
of  incompetence  and  malfeasance  in  office. 

ARTICLE    XV. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  unmindful 
of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  and  of  his  oath  of  office,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida  on  the 
24th  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-one,  and  on  divers  other  days  and  times,  in 
said  year,  at  Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida,  did  divert,  mis- 
apply, and  unlawfully  and  improperly  appropriate  the  sum  of 
eleven  thousand  dollars  ($11,000),  of  the  contingent  fund  appro- 
priated by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  did  appro- 
priate and  apply  a  large  portion  of  said  sum  to  his  own  personal 
use  and  benefit  with  full  intent  to  violate  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  whereby  said  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida,  did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a 
high  crime  and  misdemeanor  in  office,  of  incompetency  and  of 
malfeasance. 

ARTICLE    XVI. 

That  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  unmindful 
of  the  high  duties  of  his  office,  of  his  oath  of  office  and  in  violation 
of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  of  the 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  171 

dignities  and  proprieties  of  his  high  office,  on  the  eighth  day  of 

,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 

seventy,  at  Tallahassee,  in  the  State  of  Florida,  did  wrongfully 
and  maliciously  misrepresent  and  fals  fy  his  official  acts  and 
doings  to  one  T.  W.  Brevard,  with  full  intent  thereby  to  misrepre- 
sent and  falsify,  for  the  purpose  of  affecting  the  interests  of  cer- 
tain persons  and  parties,  and  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  inter- 
ests and  in  violation  of  the  express  provisions  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State,  whereby  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Flor- 
ida, did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a  high  crime 
and  misdemeanor  in  office,  of  incompetency  and  malfeasance, 
and  of  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals. 

Resolved,  That  the  managers  and  counsel  presenting  Articles 
of  Impeachment  against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  be  instructed 
to  file  the  following  replication  to  the  pleas  of  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor,  to  said  Articles  of  Impeachment : 

In  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida^  February  idth,  1872. 

The  Assembly  have  considered  the  several  pleas  of  Har- 
rison Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  to  the  several  Articles  of 
Impeachment  against  him  exhibited  by  them  in  the  name  of 
themselves  and  all  the  people  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  reserv- 
ing to  themselves  all  advantages  of  exception  to  the  insufficiency 
of  his  answer  to  each  and  all  of  the  several  Articles  exhibited 
against  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  and  for  the  replication  to 
said  pleas  do  say  that  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  is 
guilty  of  the  high  crimes,  misdemeanors  and  malfeasance  in  office 
and  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals  charged  in  said 
Articles,   and  that  the  Assembly  are  ready  to  prove  the  same. 

The  most  singular  feature  of  this  whole  impeachment  scheme 
was  that  while  the  investigating  committee  could  find  sufficient 
witnesses  in  Florida  upon  whose  evidence  to  base  thirteen  articles 
of  impeachment,  the  board  of  managers  could  not  find  witnesses 
in  the  State  to  prove  any  one  of  those  charges — for  the  proof  of 
any  one  of  them  would  have  been  sufficient. 

The  following  is  the  resolution  adopted  asking  for  further 
time,  offered  by  Mr.  Graham,  of  Manatee : 

Whereas,  Additional  time  is  necessarily  required  by  the 
managers  and  counsel  prosecuting  articles  of  impeachment 
against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  before  the  Honorable  Senate, 
to  amend  articles  already  presented,  and  to  prepare  and  present 
others,  and  to  procure  the  attendance  of  witnesses ;  and  whereas, 


172  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

a  large  number  of  said  witnesses  reside  out  of  the  State  and  in 
remote  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  their  testimony  is  neces- 
sary to  prove  the  various  matters  charged  in  said  articles  of 
impeachment,  and  without  which  testimony  the  Assembly,  by 
its  managers  and  counsel,  cannot  at  this  time  safely  proceed  to 
the  trial  of  the  said  Harrison  Reed  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  managers  be  directed  to  proceed  to  the 
bar  of  the  Senate  and  ask  that  necessary  tune  be  allowed  the 
managers  and  counsel  to  amend  articles  presented,  and  to  pre- 
pare and  present  others,  and  to  procure  the  attendance  of  neces- 
sary witnesses  to  the  trial. 

The  Assembly  having  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate  on 
the  loth  day  of  February  and  impeached  Governor  Reed,  that 
body  on  the  same  day  passed  an  order  that  the  Senate  notify  the 
Assembly  that  the  Senate  would  sit  as  a  high  court  of  impeach- 
ment on  Wednesday,  the  14th  of  February,  for  the  trial  of  Gov. 
Reed.  Immediately  after  the  order  had  been  passed  a  resolu- 
tion was  offered  that  the  two  houses  adjourn  sine  die  on  February 
19th.  The  resolution  was  postponed  until  the  following  Thurs- 
day. On  the  14th  of  February  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
escort  Chief  Justice  Randall  to  the  Senate  Chamber.  He  arrived 
and  was  sworn  by  Associate  Justice  Westcott.  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice then  swore  in  the  Senators,  when  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  made 
the  following  proclamation  : 

''  Hear  ye  !  Hear  ye  !  Hear  ye  !  All  persons  are  ordered 
to  keep  silence,  under  penalty  of  imprisonment,  while  the  Senate 
of  Florida  is  sitting  for  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of 
Florida,  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  God  save  the  State 
of  Florida  and  this  honorable  Senate !" 

A  short  while  after  the  court  had  organized  it  adjourned  to 
await  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  draft  rules  of 
procedure  and  practice  for  the  guidance  of  the  Senate  while 
sitting  as  a  high  court  of  impeachment.  On  February  15th  the 
court  met  and  the  Senate  adopted  rules  for  the  government  of 
the  Senate  while  proceeding  with  the  trial.  (See  Senate  journal, 
page  304).  A  summons  was  made,  returnable  at  8  o'clock  p.  m. 
the  same  day.  J.  P.  C.  fimmons  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the 
Senate  with  authority  from  Governor  Reed  to  act  as  his  counsel, 
and  he  presented  the  following  : 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  1 73 

^'  In  the  matter  of  the  impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  of  Florida  : 

"  I,  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida,  hav- 
ing been  notified  to  appear  before  this  honorable  court  sitting  as 
a  court  of  impeachment,  to  answer  certain  articles  of  impeach- 
ment found  and  presented  against  me  by  the  honorable  the 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida,  do  hereby  appear  by  my 
counsel,  J.  P.  C.  Emmons,  who  has  my  warrant  and  authority 
therefor,  and  who  is  instructed  by  me  to  ask  of  this  honorable 
court  such  time  as  may  be  necessary  and  reasonable  for  the  prep- 
aration of  my  answer  to  said  articles,  and  to  conduct  my  defense 
thereto  in  all  re«;pects. 

"  Dated  this  14th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1872. 

'' HARRISON  REED." 

Mr.  Emmons,  on  behalf  of  Governor  Reed,  filed  the  fol- 
lowing plea: 

In  the  matter  of  the  Impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  charged  with  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  in 
office,  incompetency  and  malfeasance,  and  conduct  detri- 
mental to  good  morals.  Before  the  honorable,  the  Senate 
of  the  State  of  Florida,  sitting  as  a  Court  of  Impeachment. 

And  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  by  his 
attorney,  J.  P.  C.  Emmons,  comes  here  into  court,  and  praying 
leave  of  the  court  to  save  and  reserve  to  himself  the  same  right 
of  objection  to  all  or  any  of  the  articles  of  impeachment  against 
him  preferred  by  the  honorable  the  Assembly  of  said  State, 
which  he  might  er  would  have  in  case  a  demurrer  to  the  same 
were  here  filed,  and  not  confessing  or  admitting  either  the  con- 
stitutional right  of  the  honorable  the  Assembly  in  the  premises, 
or  the  sufficiency  in  law^  of  any  of  the  said  articles  of  impeach- 
ment for  the  purposes  intended,  says  he  is  not  guilty  of  the  said 
supposed  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  in  office,  incompetency, 
and  malfeasance,  and  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals,  or 
any  of  them,  in  manner  or  form  as  the  honorable  the  Assembly 
aforesaid,  in  and  by  the  said  articles  of  impeachment  has  com- 
plained against  him. 

J.  P.  C.  EMMONS,  Attorney  and  of  Counsel. 

Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida. 

Senator  Hillyer  offered  the  following  order,  which  was 
agreed  to  : 

Ordered  that  the  answer  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  to 
the  articles  of  impeachment  exhibited  against  him  be  received 
and  filed.  ♦ 


174  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

The  counsel  on  behalf  of  the  managers  presented  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Mr.  Chief  Justice  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate — 

In  behalf  of  the  Assembly  and  as  directed  by  the  managers, 
I  have  the  honor  to  recjuest  of  the  honorable  Senate  a  copy  of 
the  answer  filed  by  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  Florida,  to  the 
articles  of  impeachment  exhibited  against  him  by  the  Assembly. 

Further  than  this : 

Mr.  Chief  Justice — By  instruction  of  the  Assembly,  the  man- 
agers and  counsel  appointed  to  conduct  this  important  trial  of  the 
impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  in  view  of  the  time 
necessary  to  consider  the  answer  made  by  the  respondent  and  to 
make  replication  there:o;  in  view  also  of  the  neccessity  for  proper 
time  in  which  to  procure  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  who  reside 
out  of  the  State,  whose  testimony  is  necessary  to  prove  the 
material  matters  and  facts  charged  in  the  Articles  of  Impeach- 
ment, and  without  which  the  Assembly  by  its  managers  and  coun- 
sel cannot  with  safety  and  deliberation  and  in  justice  to  the 
respondent  as  well  as  to  the  people,  proceed  at  this  time  to  fur- 
ther trial,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  amending  the  Articles  of 
Impeachment,  already  presented,  and  prepare  and  present  other 
articles  in  addition  thereto,  to  the  honorable  Senate,  do  therefore 
ask  of  this  honorable  Senate  that  necessary  time  be  allowed  the 
managers  and  counsel  to  procure  the  attendance  of  the  witnesses, 
to  make  replication  to  the  answer  of  Harrison  Reed,  and  to  pre- 
sent further  Articles  of  Impeachment  against  him. 

Mr.  Chief  Justice — We  make  this  application  with  no  pur- 
pose to  interpose  any  extraordinary  delay  in  the  progress  of  this 
cause,  other  than  that  which  of  right  we  claim  for  ourselves,  and 
in  justice  to  the  people  and  to  the  respondent. 

We  are  approaching  the  latter  days  of  the  constitutional 
limit  of  time  allowed  for  the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature, 
and  the  managers  and  counsel  are  unitedly  of  the  opinion  that 
the  presence  of  the  necessary  witnesses  cannot  possibly  be 
obtained  so  as  to  enable  the  managers  to  join  issue  with  the 
respondent  before  the  sixty  days  have  elapsed. 

Now,  in  due  respect  of  the  position  in  which  we  present  our- 
selves, Senators  will  understand  that  within  the  limits  of  the 
accusation  we  have  made,  and  for  further  reason,  because  of  the 
five  additional  articles  which  we  propose  to  present,  there  must 
be  a  very  considerable  range  of  subjects  and  a  great  variety  of 
practical  considerations  that  will  need  to  come  under  the 
responsible  judgment  and  for  the  discreet  and  critical  action  of 
counsel. 

We  do  not  present  a  mere  question  of  convenience,  but  we 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 75 

show  causes  of  substance;  and  in  making  this  application  we 
address  ourselves  to  the  sound  discretion  of  the  Senate. 

There  are  other  and_  very  important  considerations  which 
urge  our  application,  and  those  are  the  economy  of  time,  and 
of  great  expense  to  the  State,  while  we  sit  here  with  both 
Houses  in  session,  engaged  in  dilatory  proceedings,  and  waiting 
for  the  service  of  subpoenas  upon  witnesses  in  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  and  the  production  of  documentary  evidence  exist- 
ing out  of  the  State.  It  may  be  urged  by  counsel  for  respondent 
that  the  time-honored  right  of  the  accused  to  a  speedy 
and  impartial  trial  is  seriously  jeopardized  by  a  continuance ; 
but  we  claim,  Mr.  Chief  Justice  and  Senators,  that  the  rights  of 
the  people  in  their  collective  capacity  are  as  important  to  be 
preserved  and  to  be  guarded  as  jealously  as  those  of  the  citizen 
in  his  individual  character.  We,  too,  are  anxious  for  a  speedy 
trial.  But  above  all,  we  ask  that  justice  shall  be  done  — 
that  by  careful  preparation  and  deliberate  conduct,  we  shall 
divest  ourselves  of  all  the  prejudice  of  personal  differences,  and 
of  all  the  heat  and  hate  which  belongs  to  the  political  forum, 
that  our  case  shall  be  properly  and  justly  made  up,  and  that  if 
the  respondent  be  found  guilty  on  these  charges  and  on  the 
others  which  we  shall  present,  it  will  not  be  charged  to  us  that 
his  accusers  have  acted  hastily,  unfairly,  or  unjustly,  or  with 
unseeming  desire  to  add  injury  to  misfortune. 

In  behalf  of  the  managers,  I  ask  that  this  statement  may  be 
placed  upon  the  record  : 

Whereas,  Additional  time  is  necessarily  required  by  the 
managers  and  counsel  prosecuting  Articles  of  Impeachment  against 
Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  before  the  honorable  Senate,  to  amend 
articles  already  presented,  and  to  prepare  and  present  others, 
and  to  procure  the  attendance  of  witnesses ;  and,  whereas,  a  large 
number  of  these  witnesses  reside  out  of  this  State,  and  in  remote 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  their  testimony  is  necessary  to 
prove  the  various  matters  charged  in  said  Articles  of  Impeach- 
ment, and  without  which  testimony  this  Assembly,  by  its  mana- 
gers and  counsel,  cannot  at  this  time  safely  proceed  to  the  trial 
of  the  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  managers  be  directed  to  appear  at  the 
bar  of  the  Senate  and  ask  that  further  necessary  time  be  allowed 
the  managers  and  counsel  to  amend  articles  presented,  and  to 
prepare  and  present  others,  and  to  procure  the  attendance  of  the 
necessary  witnesses  upon  the  trial. 

Mr.  Jenkins  moved  that  the  further  consideration  of  this 
subject  by  the  managers  be  postponed  till  to-morrow,  12  o'clock 
noon.  •* 


176  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Senator  Henderson  offered  the  following  order  : 
That  the  managers  make  replication  at  12  o'clock  M.    to-mor- 
row, or  show  cause. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  with  the  following 
result : 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative  were : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Billings,  Crawford,  Dennis,  Eagan, 
Ginn,  Henderson,  Hill,  Hillyer,  Jenkins,  Johnson,  Kendrick, 
Locke,  McKinnon,  Meacham,  McCaskill,  Pearce,  Purman,  Sut- 
ton, Weeks  and  Wentworth — 22. 

Nays— None. 

So  the  order  was  adopted. 

The  court  then  adjourned  till  1 2  o'clock  to-morrow,  at  Sen- 
ate chamber. 

After  presenting  the  application  for  continuance  on  the  part 
of  the  managers  the  court  adjourned  to  meet  on  the  next  day. 
After  the  adjournment  of  the  court  the  resolution  previously 
offered  to  adjourn  sine  die  was  taken  up  and  passed  by  a  vote  of 
ten  to  nine — seven  Republicans  and  three  Democrats  voting  for 
adjournment.  The  High  Court  of  Impeachment  met  on  the 
17th  of  February,  at  which  time  Governor  Reed,  through  his 
counsel,  presented  the  following  : 

In  the  matter  of  the  Impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  the  State  of  Florida. 

To  THE  High  Court  of  Impeachment  : 

Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida,  respondent 
in  said  cause,  by  his  counsel,  comes  and  moves  this  honorable 
court  to  grant  him,  until  Monday  next,  time  to  prepare  answer 
to  the  Articles  of  Impeachment  as  origmally  filed  and  subse- 
quently amended  by  leave  of  this  court.  This  application  is 
made  in  view  of  the  concurrent  action  of  the  Senate  and  Assem- 
bly, fixing  Monday  next  as  the  day  of  final  adjournment,  thereby 
precluding  this  respondent,  unless  by  the  voluntary  action  of 
the  government,  from  making  his  defense  before  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  office,  if  ever.  And  this  respondent  confidently 
expects  to  make  good  his  plea  by  such  testimony  as  will  be  satis- 
factory to  those  who,  from  a  hearing  which  was  entirely  ex  parte, 
felt  it  their  duty  to  make  the  charges  and  specifications  filed 
against  him. 

This  honorable  court  will  take  notice  that  at  the  time  of  fil- 
ing his  plea  to  the  articles  as  first  presented,  this  respondent 
reserved  the  right  to  file  special  answer  to  said  articles    sever- 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 77 

ally  upon  the  happening  of  a  contingency,  which  has  now  trans- 
pired. 

Mr.  Henderson  offered  the  following  order : 

Ordered,  That  the  counsel  of  the  respondent  be  allowed 
until  Monday  next,  9  a.  m.,  to  file  his  answer,  amended  answers, 
or  plea  to  the  Articles  of  Impeachment  exhibited  against  him  ; 

AVhich  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Wentworth  moved  that  the   Senate   sitting  as  a   High 
Court  of  Impeachment  adjourn  till  9  a.  m.  Monday; 
Which  was  agreed  to. 
The  Chief  Justice  then  adjourned  the  court  till  Monday  9 

A.    M. 

The  High  Court  of  Impeachment  met  February  19th, 
and  the  counsel  for  the  respondent  asked  leave  to  file  the  follow- 
ing: 

■  "  And  the  said  respondent,  by  his  counsel  comes  and  moves 
the  court  that  the  plea  heretofore  filed  to  the  said  articles  of  Im- 
peachment be  held  and  treated  as  the  plea  and  answer  to  the 
said  articles  filed  since  then,  the  same  as  though  said  plea 
was  this  day  filed." 

'■ '  A^erv  respectfully, 

''J.  P.  C.    EMMONS, 
"Counsel  for  Respondent." 

The  request  of  the  respondent  was  granted.  The  Board  of 
Managers  presented  the  following  : 

Resolved,  That  the  managers  and  counsel  prosecuting 
Articles  of  Impeachment  against  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  be 
empowered  and  instructed  to  prepare  and  file  in  the  High  Court 
of  Impeachment  the  necessary  replication  to  the  answer  and  plea 
that  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  has  or  may  file  to  the  said 
Articles  of  Impeachment. 

Attest :  M.  L.    STEARNS, 

Speaker  of  the  Assembly. 
H.   H.   CLAY, 
Clerk  of  the  Assembly. 
Which  was  agreed  to. 

The  counsel  for  the  Bo^rd  of  Managers  of  the  Assembly 
offered  a  repHcation  and  asked  that  it  should  be  filed. 

The  counsel  for  the  respondent  submitted  the  following,  and 
asked  that  it  be  filed  : 
12 


178  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Counsel  objects  to  the  reception  of  the  replication  on  the 
ground  that  it  does  not  appear  to  be  put  in  under  the  direction 
of  the  Assembly,  nor  the  mode  prescribed  by  law  therefor. 

The  counsel  for  the  managers  then  withdrew,  and  subse- 
quently tendered  the  following  replication  : 

hi  the  Assembly  and  State  of  Florida,  February  ig,  1872. 

Replication  by  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Florida  to  the 
pleas  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  to  the  Articles  of  Impeach- 
ment exhibited  against  him  by  the  said  Assembly. 

And  now  comes  the  Assembly  by  its  managers  and  counsel, 
and  having  considered  the  several  pleas  of  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor,  to  the  several  Articles  of  Impeachment  exhibited 
against  him  in  the  name  of  the  said  Assembly,  and  of  all  the 
people  of  Florida,  and  reserving  to  the  said  Assembly  all 
advantages  of  exception  to  the  insufficiency  of  said  pleas,  to  each 
and  all  the  said  several  Articles  of  Impeachment,  exhibited 
against  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  and  for  the  replication  to 
said  pleas,  do  say  that  said  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  is  guilty 
of  the  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  of  incompetency  and  mal- 
feasance, and  of  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals,  and  that 
the  Assembly  is  ready  to  prove  the  same. 

M.   L.   STEARNS, 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly. 
H.   H.   CLAY, 
Chief  Clerk  of  Assembly. 

Mr.  Jenkins  offered  the  following  order: 

Ordej'ed,  That  the  replication  of  the  managers  to  the 
respondent's  plea  be  received  and  filed. 

Which  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Wentworth  offered  the  following  order : 

Ordered,  That  the  Senate  sitting  as  a  High  Court  of 
Impeachment  do  now  adjourn  in  accordance  with  the  concurrent 
resolution  adopted  by  the  Senate  and  the  Assembly  for  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  with  the  following 
result : 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative^were : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Dennis,  Hill,  Jenkins,  Kendrick,  Locke, 
Meacham,  Purman  and  Wentworth — 9. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were : 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 79 

Messrs.  Atkins,  Billings,  Crawford,  Eagan,  Ginn,  Hender- 
son, Hillyer,  McKinnon,  McCaskill,  Pearce  and  Sutton — ii. 

So  the  order  was  not  adopted. 

Mr.  AVentworth  moved  that  the  Senate  room  be  cleared  for 
deliberation ; 

Which  was  not  agreed  to. 

The  counsel  for  the  respondent  offered  the  following,  and 
asked  that  it  be  filed : 

In  the  matter  of  Harrison  Reed,  impeached  for  high  crimes,  mis- 
demeanors, malfeasance  in  office  and  conduct  detrimental 
to  good  morals. 

I,  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida,  hereby 
by  my  counsel,  J.  P.  C.  Emmons,  now  come  here  into  court  and 
demand  a  trial  of  the  charges  aforesaid,  embodied  in  the 
Articles  of  Impeachment,  filed  against  me  in  this  court,  to  which 
I  have  filed  my  plea  verified  by  oath  as  required  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  this  State. 

And  I  now  hereby  solemnly  protest,  that,  as  I  now  make 
such  demand  and  hereby  declare  myself  ready  for  trial,  further 
proceedings  shall  not  be  delayed  or  contmued  to  an  impossible 
day  or  time,  within  which  my  office  as  Governor  aforesaid  will 
have  expired  by  constitutional  limitation. 

Ordered  that  the  same  be  filed. 

The  counsel  for  the  respondent  offered  the  following  : 

Mr.  Emmons,  respondent,  moved  that  the  managers  pro- 
ceed with  the  evidence,  or  that  he  be  acquitted  and  discharged. 

Mr.  Henderson  moved  that  the  Senate  chamber  be  cleared 
for  deliberation ; 

Which  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Wentworth  moved  that  the  doors  be  now  opened; 

Which  was  agreed  to. 

The  doors  were  opened. 

Senator  Jenkins  offered  the  following  order : 

Ordered,  That  the  High  Court  of  Impeachment  do  now 
adjourn. 

Mr.  McCaskill  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute : 

Whereas,  Articles  of  Impeachment  have  been  •  presented 
by  the  honorable  Assembly  of  Florida  against  Harrison  Reed, 
Governor,  and  whereas  the  respondent  demands  an  immediate 
trial, 

Ordered,  therefore,  That  this  court  will  continue  to  sit  from 
day  to  day  at  lo  o'clock  of  each  day,  for  the   trial  of  Harrison 


l8o  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Reed,  till  adjourned  by  the  limitations  of  the  State  Constitution, 
to-\vit :     Till  the  end  of  60  days. 

Mr.  Purman  offered  the  following  order : 

Ordered,  That  the  Senate  sitting  in  High  Court  of  Impeach- 
ment do  now  adjourn. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  with  the  following  result: 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative  were  : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Dennis,  Ginn,  Hill,  Jenkins,  Kendrick, 
Locke,  Meacham,  Purman  and  Wentworth — 10. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were : 

Messrs.  Atkins,  Crawford,  Eagan,  McKinnon,  McCaskill 
and  Pearce — 6. 

So  the  order  was  adopted. 

The  Chief  Justice  then  declared  the  court  adjourned  in  pur- 
suance of  the  order  of  the  Senate,  and  ordered  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms  to  make  the  following  proclamation  : 

Hear  ye  !  Hear  ye  !  Hear  ye  !  The  Senate  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  sitting  as  a  high  Court  of  Impeachment,  now  stands 
adjourned.  God  save  the  State  of  Florida  and  this  honorable 
court. 

The  Osborn  conspirators  made  no  hesitation  in  openly 
declaring,  after  the  Governor  had  been  impeached,  that  they  did 
not  intend  to  give  him  a  trial.  They  only  desired  to  get  him 
suspended  so  that  there  would  be  no  hindrance  to  the  commis- 
sion of  fraud  at  the  ensuing  election,  and  the  nomination  and 
counting  in  of  M.  L.  Stearns  for  Governor,  while  Day,  the  act- 
ing Governor,  was  to  be  nominated  and  counted  in  for  Congress. 
Our  next  chapter  will  show  how  Governor  Reed  broke  this  slate 
and  conspiracy. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Bafiqitet  of  the  Conspirators  and  the  Handwriting  on  the 
Wall,  Day's  Proclamation  and  the  Meeting  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. Extracts  from  Day's  Pivclamation.  The  Decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  The  Conspirators  Again  Jubilant.  The 
Conspirators  Driven  Into  Court.  Governor  Reed  Before  The 
High  Court  of  Impeach7nent.  The  Famous  Argument  of 
Jtidge  Emmons.  The  Reply  of  the  Managers.  The  Conspir- 
ators See  Danger  Ahead,  and  are  Wrathy  With  Day.  Hon- 
est Cessfia  Exposed.  The  Triumph  of  Governor  Reed.  Sce^ies 
Around  the  State  House  when  Governor  Reed  was  Dis- 
charged. 

The  Osborn  conspirators  having  now  deposed  Governor 
Reed  and,  as  they  thought,  buried  him  with  his  face  downward, 
were  jubilant  and  defiant.  The  strongest  friends  of  the  Governor 
grew  weak,  while  the  doubtful  and  faint-hearted  of  the  conspir- 
ators grew  strong.  No  one  in  the  Republican  party  dared  to 
utter  a  word  in  defense  of  Harrison  Reed,  under  penalty  of 
being  read  out  of  the  party  as  a  traitor.  James  W.  Johnson, 
white  carpet-bagger,  one  of  the  leading  conspirators  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  managers  of  impeachment,  was  made  pri- 
vate secretary  of  Governor  Day,  at  a  salary  of  $750  per  annum. 
Not  a  speck  of  cloud  could  be  seen  by  them  in  the  political  hori- 
zon to  disturb  their  peaceful  ten  month's  sail  in  the  great  ship  of 
state  to  the  verdant  fields  of  plunder,  which-  they  so  eagerly  antici- 
pated would  be  fully  ripe  and  ready  for  wholesale  harvest  in  the 
nomination,  counting  in  and  inauguration  of  M.  L.  Stearns,  the 
Bureau. agent,  as  Governor.  Governor  Reed,  in  the  meantime, 
unassumingly  contended  that  the  adjournment  of  the  court 
after  issue  had  been  joined  and  the  Senators  sworn  to  try  the 
Articles  of  Impeachment,  and  the  adjournment,  after  his 
arraignment  without  his  consent  and  against  his  protest,  operated 
as  an  acquittal.  The  Governor,  in  order  to  have  the  matter 
amicably  settled  as  to  who  was  the  legal  Governor,  proceeded 
to  the  executive  office  and  had  an  interview  with  Governor  Day, 


l82  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

and  requested  him  to  join  with  him,  Reed,  and  ask  the  opinion 
of  the  Supreme  Court  as  to  the  legal  effect  of  the  adjournment 
of  the  Senate  without  giving  him  a  trial.  Day,  fearing  that  the 
court  might  decide  that  Reed  was  Governor,  stubbornly  refused 
to  even  countenance  Reed's  request,  and  laughed  him  to 
scorn.  Judge  Emmous,  Reed's  counsel,  thought  that  he  could 
get  the  matter  before  the  court  by  a  motion ;  but  in  this  propo- 
sition Governor  Reed  showed  himself  to  be  a  better  lawyer  than 
his  counsel,  for  Reed  contended  that  this  could  not  be  done 
without  notice,  if  at  all,  which  Emmons  finally  acknowledged 
was  true.  The  conspirators  had  called  a  State  convention  to 
assemble  in  the  city  of  Jacksonville,  which  met  shortly  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature.  The  convention  being  in  ses- 
sion and  Reed  out  of  the  way,  no  one  dared  to  mar  the  occasion 
])y  opposing  anything  the  conspirators  attempted  to  put  through. 
They  elected  a  State  Central  Committee,  which  was  in  full 
accord  with  the  conspirators.  The  convention  was  considered 
as  a  grand  banquet  given  by  them  in  honor  of  the  overthrow  of 
Governor  Reed,  and  Cessna  and  Johnson  figured  as  the  great 
heroes.  Day  had  left  the  seat  of  government  at  Tallahassee 
and  was  now  in  attendance  at  the  banquet,  partarking  of  its 
sweet  felicities,  and  mirth  and  thanksgiving  filled  the  hall. 

As  C.  H.  Pearce,  the  great  leader  of  the  freedmen  of  the 
State,  and  more  especially  of  Leon  County,  had  fallen  a  victim 
to  the  persecutions  of  the  conspirators  because  he  had  stood  by 
the  administration  of  Governor  Reed,  was  losing  his  grip  upon 
the  freedmen  by  reason  of  such  persecution ;  and  the  conspira- 
tors desiring  a  colored  leader  who  could  bring  the  freedmen  to 
their  support,  the  author  of  this  work,  who  had  heretofore  been 
Pearce's  leading  lieutenant,  was  counseled  by  Day  to  take  his 
place.  As  Governor  Reed  was  supposed  to  be  dead  and  buried, 
this  proposition  was  gladly  accepted,  and  he  was  mustered  in  at 
the  banquet  with  all  the  honors  of  one  who  had  been  brought 
up  under  this  great  leader  and  knew  how  to  capture  his  most 
formidable  political  fortifications  without  injury  to  the  conspira- 
tors, and  was  at  once  endorsed  by  the  banquet  as  the  next 
Republican  candidate  for  Congress.  This  endorsement  was 
never  intended  by  the  conspirators  to  be  carried  out  in  good 
faith,  of  which  the  author  was  well  aware  at  the  time,  but  only 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 83 

to  hoodwink  him  and   make  him  more  zealous  in   bringing  the 
freedmen  to  their  support. 

Governor  Reed,  taking  advantage  of  the  absence  of  Day 
from  the  seat  of  government,  as  well  as  the  gathering  of  nearly- 
all  of  the  conspirators  at  the  banquet,  quietly  proceeded  from 
Jacksonville  to  Tallahassee,  held  a  consultation  with  his  true  and 
tried  secretary,  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  who  stood  as  a  wall  of 
fire  against  the  assaults  made  by  the  conspirators  on  the  Governor, 
which  consultation  resulted  in  the  Governor  issuing  a  proclama- 
tion from  the  executive  office  declaring  himself  Chief  Executive 
of  the  State,  and  commanding  the  people  to  give  obedience 
thereto.  The  Governor  also  made  several  important  appoint- 
ments, among  which  were  General  William  Birney  to  be  Attor- 
ney-General, and  F.  1.  Wheaton  to  be  Judge  of  the  Fourth 
Judicial  Circuit.  Secretary  Gibbs  recognized  Reed  as  the  legal 
Governor  of  Florida,  and  affixed  the  great  seal  of  the  State  to 
this  proclamation,  and  to  the  appointments.  Reed  also 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  requesting  their  opinion  as  to  the  legal  effect  of  the 
adjournment  of  the  Senate  without  giving  him  a  trial,  and  then 
returned  to  Jacksonville  without  the  knowledge  of  the  conspira- 
tors. The  banquet  was  in  the  height  of  its  glory  when  the  hand- 
writing on  the  wall  was  discovered  by  Day  in  the  shape  of  Reed's 
proclamation  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  was  still 
Governor  of  Florida.  Day,  with  tremors  which  he  attempted 
to  conceal,  cried  :  "Treason,"  while  he  summoned  Johnson, 
his  private  secretary,  to  his  side,  apparently  to  give  him  com- 
fort. Johnson  obeyed  the  summons,  and  although  haggard 
when  he  appeared,  swore  that  he  would  go  to  Tallahassee  and 
hang  Governor  Reed  as  high  as  Haman.  Cessna  mustered  up 
a  smile,  which  was  barren  of  its  usual  fervor,  and  contended 
that  the  people  would  pay  no  attention  to  Reed's  proclamation. 
Others  suggested  the  calling  of  an  extra  session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture to  impeach  Secretary  Gibbs  for  affixing  the  great  seal  of  the 
State  to  Governor  Reed's  act,  while  all  agreed  that  Day  should 
call  upon  the  General  Government  for  troops  if  Reed  could  not 
be  got  rid  of  otherwise.  The  leading  conspirators  now  pro- 
ceeded to  Tallahassee  to  assist  Johnson  in  decapitating  Governor 
Reed,  who,  having  carried  his  point,  had  quietly  returned  to  his 


184  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

home  at  Jacksonville.  When  the  conspirators  reached  Talla- 
hassee they  found  nothing  to  prevent  their  taking  peaceable  pos- 
session of  the  citadel ;  but  the  question  as  to  who  was  the  legal 
Governor  was  squarely  placed  before  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  intention  of  Governor  Reed  was  not  to  take  forcible  pos- 
session of  the  government,  as  the  conspirators  were  in  hopes  he 
had  done,  so  that  they  might  invoke  the  aid  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment in  their  behalf,  but  to  get  possession  by  process  of  law. 
The  appointment  of  Birney  and  Wheaton  was  intended  to  make 
a  contest  as  to  who  was  Governor.  Day  had  appointed  Judge 
Gillis  of  the  same  circuit  as  judge,  and  Reed  thought  Gillis 
would  resort  to  the  courts  to  establish  his  authority,  thus  involv- 
ing the  question  as  to  the  legality  of  Wheaton's  appointment ; 
but  the  Governor  missed  his  aim  in  this,  as  Gillis  made  no  resist- 
ance, and  Wheaton  had  no  trouble  in  exercising  the  duties  of  his 
office.  The  plan  of  issuing  this  proclamation  and  making  these 
appointments,  many  thought  was  the  work  of  Judge  Emmons, 
but  the  judge,  as  well  as  Secretary  Gibbs,  often  declared  to  the 
author  afterwards  that  it  was  Reed's  own  invention.  Reed's 
case  now  pending  before  the  Supreme  Court,  the  conspirators, 
like  the  builders  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  were  confused,  and  no  two 
of  them  could  agree  as  to  the  best  course  to  be  pursued  to  prevent 
him  from  recapturing  the  citadel.  They  seemed  to  know  before- 
hand what  the  opinion  of  Associate  Justice  Hart  would  be,  but 
expressed  themselves  as  being  afraid  of  Chief  Justice  Randall 
and  Associate  Justice  Westcott.  Day  insisted  on  calling  a 
session  of  the  Legislature  for  the  double  purpose  of  getting  rid 
of  Gibbs  and  of  re-impeaching  Reed  if  the  court  should  dis- 
charge him.  Day's  proposition  eventually  prevailed,  and  the 
following  proclamation  was  accordingly  issued. 

Whereas,  The  interests  of  the  people  of  this  State  require 
the  immediate  assembling  of  the  Legislature : 

Now,  THEREFORE,  1,  SamuelT.  Dav,  Lieutcnant-Govemor, 
and,  by  virtue  of  said  office.  Acting  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  do  hereby  issue  this  my  proclamation,  convening  the 
Legislature  in  Extraordinary  Session  at  Tallahassee,  the  Capital, 
on  Monday,  the  2 2d  day  of  April,  A.  D.,  1872,  at  twelve  meri- 
dian, at  which  time,  in  pursuance  of  the  requirements  of  the 
Constitution,  I  will  communicate  to  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature the  ])urpose  for  which  they  have  been  convened. 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 85 

In  testvjwny  whereof^  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  in 
lieu  of  affixing  the  great  seal  of  the  State,  hereby  proclaim  that 
the  same  has  been  secreted  or  stolen. 

Done  at  the  Capitol,  in  Tallahassee,  Florida,  this  seven- 
teenth day  of  April  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  ninety-sixth. 

Samuel  T.  Day, 
Acting  Governor. 

The  Legislature  met  on  the  day  designated  in  Day's  procla- 
mation, with  only  two  members  of  the  Senate  and  ten  members 
of  the  Assembly.  Both  houses  adjourned  from  day  to  day  until 
a  quorum  was  had.  On  the  third  day  the  Senate  had  a  quorum, 
and  on  the  fourth  day  there  was  a  quorum  in  the  Assembly. 
Both  houses  now  notified  Acting  Governor  Day  of  their  organ- 
ization and  their  readiness  to  receive  any  communication  he 
might  be  pleased  to  make.  In  response  Day  sent  a  message 
from  which  we  extract  so  much  as  relates  to  the  contested  case, 
as  follows : 

message  of  the  acting  governor. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and  of  the  Assembly : 

I  regret  the  occasion  which  has  compelled  me  to  assemble 
the  Legislature  at  this  season  of  the  year,  which  is  so  important 
to  many  of  you,  who  are  engaged  in  agricultural  labors. 

The  public  necessity  for  certain  legislative  action  has 
appeared  to  me  to  be  so  imperative,  and  my  own  earnest  sense 
of  the  responsibility  which  devolves  upon  the  Executive  under 
the  peculiar  circumstances  that  have  recently  arisen,  are  con- 
siderations which  have  caused  me  to  feel  justified  in  calling  you 
together  at  some  sacrifice  of  your  personal  interests. 

On  the  loth  day  of  February  last,  at  the  regular  session  of 
the  Legislature,  certain  proceedings  were  had  by  both  branches 
thereof,  which  impeached  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  the  State, 
of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  in  office,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  constitutional  requirements,  Governor  Reed  was  sus- 
pended from  his  official  duties,  pending  the  final  determination 
of  the  Senate  upon  the  charges  against  him,  and  as  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  State  the  duties  of  the  Executive  devolved  upon 
me. 

On  that  day  I  occupied  the  Executive  office,  ai}d  assumed 
the  authority   and    functions  of    Chief  Magistrate  of  the  State, 


1 86  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

not,  however,  without  the  embarrassment  of  finding  the  Gov- 
ernor's office  strii)ped  of  all  official  records,  papers,  and  docu- 
ments properly  belonging  thereto,  which  had  been  secretly 
removed  by  Governor  Reed  himself,  or  by  his  direction. 

The  constitutional  provision  declaring  the  effect  of  an 
impeachment  in  relation  to  the  rights  of  the  person  accused,  is 
in  the  following  expressed  terms  : 

''An  officer  when  impeached  by  ihe  Assembly  shall  be 
deemed  under  arrest,  and  shall  be  disqualified  from  performing 
any  of  the  duties  of  his  office  until  acquitted  by  the  Senate. 
But  any  officer  so  impeached  and  in  arrest  may  demand  his  trial 
by  the  Senate  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  his  impeach- 
ment."    (Art.  i6,  Sec.  9.) 

The  Senate  not  having  concluded  the  trial  of  Governor 
Reed,  but  having,  on  the  contrary,  continued  the  proceedings 
in  the  exercise  of  its  judicial  discretion,  and  having  adopted  a 
concurrent  resolution  expressive  ot  the  intention  and  purpose  of 
both  the  prosecuting  branch  of  the  Legislature  and  of  the  Sen- 
ate itself  for  a  continuance,  still  holds  in  custody  the  person  of 
the  accused  under  its  own  warrant,  and  subject  to  its  own  rules 
and  orders. 

Such  being  the  case,  and  Governor  Reed  having  vacated 
the  Executive  office  and  removed  his  residence  from  the  Capital 
to  Jacksonville,  did,  on  the  8th  inst.,  by  unlawful  conspiracy 
with  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  Secretary  of  State,  and  in  my  tempo- 
rary absence,  clandestinely  enter  the  Executive  office,  and  unlaw- 
fully attempted  to  take  possession  thereof,  and  issued  a  so-called 
proclamation  declaring  himself  still  to  be  in  the  exercise  of  the 
Chief  Executive  duties  of  the  State;  the  said  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs 
confederating  with  him  in  this  high-handed  conspiracy,  and  affix- 
ing the  Great  Seal  of  the  State  to  the  so-called  proclamation, 
attesting  the  same  as  Secretary  of  State. 

In  furtherance  of  this  conspiracy  to  seize  the  State  govern- 
ment. Governor  Reed  executed  certain  so-called  appointments 
to  office  ;  one  to  William  Birney,  to  be  Attorney-General,  and 
another  to  F.  I.  Wheaton,  to  be  Judge  of  the  Fourth  Judicial 
Circuit;  in  which  proceedings  the  Secretary  of  State  co-operated 
and  in  all  respects  recognized  the  authority  of  Governor  Reed. 

Instead  of  seeking  by  legal  and  proper  methods,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  Constitution  and  Laws  of  the  State,  to  reas- 
sume  the  duties  of  the  Executive,  Governor  Reed  and  Secre- 
tary Gibbs,  by  a  secret  and  artfully-planned  conspiracy,  seized 
the  Great  Seal  of  the  State,  together  with  important  records  and 
papers,  being  public  property,  and  hastily  removed  the  same  to 
Jacksonville. 

On  being  informed  of  these  lawless  and  revolutionary  pro- 
ceedings, I  repaired  to  the  Executive  office,  and  issued  my  proc- 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 87 

lamation,  declaring  the  conduct  of  the  conspirators  ''an 
attempted  usurpation,"  and  "  revolutionary  in  its  tendencies," 
and  commanding  obedience  to  the  lawfully  constituted  authori- 
ties of  the  State. 

In  this  action  I  have  been  almost  universally  sustained  by 
the  people,  and  have  been  offered  every  possible  aid  from  all  sec- 
tions of  the  State  in  preserving  the  peace,  order,  and  dignity  of 
the  government,  and  for  the  protection  and  support  of  my  recog- 
nized Executive  authority. 

I  have  thus  briefly  laid  before  you  the  facts  attending  this 
most  atrocious  attempt  by  Governor  Reed  to  seize  the  powers  of 
the  government,  under  color  of  a  self-asserted  right  and  in  defi- 
ance of  the  judicial  proceedings  of  a  high  constitutional  forum, 
by  which  he  was  deprived  of  all  authority  whatever.  It  is  true 
that  this  action  has  produced  in  some  sections  of  the  State  con- 
fusion and  distrust,  and  has  made  the  exercise  of  official  author- 
ity on  the  part  of  some  State  and  county  officers  a  matter  of 
divided  opinion,  and  afforded  a  plausible  pretext  for  a  class  of 
political  malcontents  to  obstruct  and  embarrass  the  adminstra- 
tion  of  the  laws. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  differences  of  opinion  respecting 
the  legal  effects  of  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature  without 
the  trial  of  the  accused  by  the  Senate,  there  can  be  no  circum- 
stances which  justify  or  palliate  a  resort  to  force  or  to  unlawful 
conspiracy  on  the  part  of  any  State  officer  or  pretended  official, 
in  bold  defiance  of  the  determination  of  a  judicial  tribunal. 
Whether  that  decision  be  right  or  wrong,  lawful  or  unlawful,  it 
is  not  within  the  sphere  of  the  recognized  legal  rights,  nor  with- 
in the  proper  exercise  of  the  power  to  vindicate  personal  liberty, 
on  the  part  of  any  citizen,  be  he  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  to 
question  or  override,  the  validity  or  legal  effect  of  any  judicial 
proceeding,  by  attempting  to  subvert  the  laws,  to  defy  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  the  State,  and  to  incite  rebellion  and  anarchy 
in  the  government. 

Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  the  supreme  judicial 
authority  of  the  State  upon  the  question  of  the  legal  effect  of  the 
proceedings  thus  far  held  by  the  Senate  in  the  suspension  from 
office  of  Governor  Reed,  I  do  not  deem  it  disrespectful,  during  the 
pendancy  of  the  consideration  of  such  opinion,  to  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  paramount  necessity  at  all  times  of  recognizing 
and  abiding  by  the  de  facto  Executive  authority  of  the  State. 
No  department  of  the  government  is  more  essential  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  peace  and  order  of  the  community.  Its  powers 
and  agency  are  distributed  over  the  State  in  larger  proportion 
than  those  of  any  other  branch  of  the  government,  and  are 
brought  more  directly  in  contact  with  the  people.  It  is  the 
immediate  representative  of  the  sovereign  will  of    the  people, 


l88  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

and  upon  its  vigorous  and  discreet  action  the  courts  and  all  judi- 
cial authority  rely  for  the  ultimate  vindication  of  justice  and 
the  security  of  good  government.  In  this  view  of  my  own 
duty,  I  hold  the  conduct  of  Governor  Reed  and  all  his  abettors 
as  revolutionary  and  criminal,  and  in  no  manner  justifying  the 
countenance  or  support  of  any  law-abiding  citizen,  z/;////  having 
been  declared  by  a  tribunal  of  competent  jurisdiction  entitled  to 
resume  his  Executive  functions.  It  is  therefore  that  I  feel  bound 
by  my  oath,  and  by  my  sense  of  public  duty,  to  compel  obedience 
to  my  authority,  and  to  use  every  power  in  me  vested  by  law  to 
suppress  all  attempts  to  subvert  it. 

I  call  your  attention  to  these  extraordinary  facts,  and  sug- 
gest such  legislation  as  in  your  wisdom  the  circumstances  may 
seem  to  require. 

On  the  29th  day  of  April  the  Senate  and  Assembly 
adjourned  and  proceeded  to  the  Supreme  Court  room  to  hear  the 
opinion  delivered  as  to  who  was  the  legal  Governor.  The  con- 
spirators were  in  high  spirits,  as  Hart  had  privately  informed 
them  that  things  were  all  right,  and  that  the  court  would  sus- 
tain Day.  A.  J.  Peeler  and  George  P.  Raney  appeared  for 
Day,  and  Judge  Emmons  for  Governor  Reed.  The  arguments 
had  been  made  several  days  before.  While  the  court  fully 
agreed  that  Governor  Reed  was  entided  to  a  trial,  yet  a  majority 
of  the  court,  Associate  Justices  Westcott  and  Hart,  decided  that 
the  Supreme  Court  had  no  jurisdiction  to  decide  as  to  whether 
the  adjournment  of  the  Senate  to  an  impossible  day  did  or  did 
not  operate  as  an  acquittal.  The  court  further  decided  that 
Governor  Reed  being  suspended,  could  not  ask  the  opinion  of 
the  court  as  to  any  matter.  Yet  Reed  was  sufficiently  Governor 
to  get  the  court  together  on  his  case  for  the  purpose  of  hearing 
arguments  of  counsel  for  and  against  his  questions  propounded 
to  the  court  as  Governor.  Chief  Justice  Randall  dissented,  and 
delivered  an  opinion,  which  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
work.  (See  14  Florida  Reports,  p.  308).  The  conspirators  now 
had  gotten  over  the  scare  which  Governor  Reed  had  first  given 
them  before  the  court,  and  thought  themselves  masters  of  the 
situation,  and  in  the  House  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted  : 

Resolved,  by  the  Assembly,  the  Senate  concurring,  That 
this  Legislature  do  adjourn  on  Friday,  May  3d,  at  12  m.,  until 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 89 

such  time  as  the  Acting  Governor  shall  call  them  together  again, 
on  being  informed  by  the  Managers  of  Impeachment  that  they 
are  ready  to  proceed  with  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed. 

Of  course  the  managers  were  never  to  be  ready,  and  Day 
would  be  the  last  man  to  call  them  together. 

In  addition  to  F.  A.  Dockray  and  Mr.  Brevard,  counsel  for 
the  Board  of  Managers,  Governor  D.  S.  Walker  and  Boiling 
Baker  were  employed.  A  resolution  was  offered  by  Mr.  Oli- 
veros,  of  St.  Johns  County,  that  the  Board  of  Managers  proceed 
at  once  with  the  trial  of  Governor  Reed.  This  resolution  was 
laid  on  the  table. 

After  the  Assembly  had  adopted  its  resolution  to  adjourn 
without  giving  Governor  Reed  a  trial,  the  Senate,  on  the  first 
day  of  May,  proceeded  by  resolution  to  organize  a  High  Court 
of  Impeachment.  This  resolution  was  fought  most  bitterly  by 
the  conspirators  in  the  Senate— Wentworth,  Purman  and  others — 
while  John  A.  Henderson  and  John  L.  Crawford,  Democrats, 
battled  for  its  passage.  All  manner  of  dilatory  motions  were 
made  to  prevent  its  passage,  until  the  conspirators  became 
exhausted  and  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  the  resolution  was 
adopted.  The  conspirators  in  the  Assembly,  now  forced  into 
court  by  the  action  of  the  Senate,  to  make  good  their  charges, 
passed  a  resolution  on  the  2d  day  of  May,  to  send  for  persons 
and  papers  and  to  take  testimony  under  oath.  The  High  Court 
of  Impeachment  met  May  2d,  at  five  minutes  to  12  a.  m.,  the 
Chief  Justice  present.  The  Sergeant-at-Arms  made  his  usual 
proclamation,  and  the  Assembly  was  notified  that  the  Senate 
was  organized  for  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed. 

Committee  o(  managers  from  the  Assembly  then  came  in 
with  counsel. 

Judge  Emmons,  counsel  for  Governor  Reed,  present. 

The  Chief  Justice  then  announced  that  the  Senate,  as  a 
High  Court  of  Impeachment,  was  fully  organized. 

Counsel  for  respondent  then  asked  leave  to  proceed  with 
motions  that  he  would  present.  The  managers  notified  the 
court. 

I  desire  to  state  that  the  managers  are  represented  by  T.  W. 
Brevard  and  F.  A.  Dockray  as  counsel. 

Judge  Emmons,  counsel  for  Governor  Reed,  then  read  the 
following  paper  as  presenting  his  views : 


IpO    .  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

In  the  matter  of  the  Impeachment  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor 
of  Florida,  before  the  High  Court  of  Impeachment,  organ- 
ized by  virtue  of  resolution  passed  the  Senate  May  i,  1872, 
at  an  extra  session. 

This  matter  came  up  for  inquiry  before  a  High  Court  of 
Impeachment,  organized  by  the  Senate,  at  the  regular  session  of 
the  Legislature  of  the  State,  at  and  during  its  session  in  Febru- 
ary last. 

At  that  time,  and  before  the  then  court.  Articles  of  Impeach- 
ment were  filed  in  court ;  the  respondent  pleaded  and  the  Assem- 
bly replied. 

Issue  was  thereby  joined. 

On  the  application  of  the  managers,  the  court  acted  upon 
and  refused  to  continue  the  trial. 

Respondent  protested  against  any  postponements  or  contin- 
uance, the  effect  of  which  would  be  to  postpone  his  trial  to  an 
impossible  day,  claiming  that  the  continuance  of  the  trial  to 
the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  would  be  to  fix  a  time  before 
the  coming  of  which  his  term  of  office  would  expire  by  constitu- 
tional limitation,  and  that  he  announced  himself  ready  for  and 
demanded  his  trial.  That  the  prosecution  produce  its  evidence, 
or  that  the  respondent  be  acquitted  and  discharged. 

That  a  member  of  the  court  asked  its  body  to  proceed  in  the 
trial,  and  to  sit  from  day  to  day  therefor  until  such  time  as  by 
constitutional  limit  the  Legislature's  session  would  cease.  With- 
out action,  the  court  adjourned  without  day. 

By  operation  of  its  own  rule,  adopted  for  its  government, 
the  Senate,  sitting  as  a  court,  merged  into  the  Senate  proper 
in  its  sole  legislative  capacity.  That  such  Senate  thereafter 
adjourned  sine  die,  the  hour  having  arrived  as  fixed  in  a  con- 
current resolution,  originating  and  passing  both  branches  of  the 
Legislature,  after  the  commencement  of  impeachment  proceed- 
ings and  before  the  adjournment  of  said  court. 

This  session  of  the  Legislature  was  not  provided  for  by  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  neither  was  it  contemplated 
in  the  mind  of  the  court  or  of  the  acting  Governor,  when  the 
adjournment  before  mentioned  took  place. 

He  by  whom,  by  the  Constitution,  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
Governor  were  to  be  performed,  has  exercised  the  constitutional 
prerogative  belonging  to  the  Executive  of  the  State  in  calling  an 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  which  is  now  in  session.  Among 
other  acts  of  this  body,  this  branch  has,  by  its  resolution,  organ- 
ized itself  into  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment  to  proceed  in  the 
trial  of  the  respondent. 

From  the  day  of  his  impeachment  to  the  present  moment, 
the   action    of  the    Legislature    has   practically    suspended   this 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  igi 

respondent  from  the  powers,  rights,  privileges  and  immunities 
belonging  to  him  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
State. 

And  now  Harrison  Reed,  Governor  of  the  State,  respondent 
herein,  by  J.  P.  C.  Emmons,  his  counsel,  comes  here  into  this 
court,  and  asks  and  demands,  in  virtue  of  the  proceedings  had 
in  the  premises,  that  he,  the  respondent,  be  acquitted  and  dis- 
charged of  and  from  all  and  singular  said  impeachment,  as  set 
forth  in  the  Articles  of  Impeachment  filed,  and  that  he  be  dis- 
charged from  arrest,  and  that  he  be  relieved  from  any  and  all 
further  attendance  upon  this  court,  or  the  Senate  from  which  it 
was  organized,  growing  out  of  the  impeachment  or  the  proceed- 
ings aforesaid. 

Mr.  Emmons  then,  after  stating  his  motion  to  the  above 
effect,  asVed  some  Senator  to  make  the  motion  pro  forma. 

Mr.  Henderson  offered  the  following  order  : 

Ordered,  That  the  motion  of  the  counsel  of  respondent  be 
granted. 

Without  detaining  the  court  to  discuss  how  far,  as  a  court, 
it  is  bound  to  apply  a  well-recognized  principle  in  the  very  spirit 
of  our  institutions,  that  whenever  it  shall  find  in  the  detail  of 
powers  in  fixing  the  distributive  share  which  properly  belongs 
to  each  branch  of  the  government,  a  power  inappropriately  dele- 
gated to  one  which  is  in  conflict  with  that  which  properly 
belongs  to  another,  it  will  so  construe  that  delegation  as  to 
make  it  belong  where,  by  an  antecedent  delegation,  it  was 
intended,  I  will  say,  in  support  of  my  motion,  and  demand  that 
by  operation  of  law,  when  the  court,  at  the  last  session,  and 
the  Senate,  adjourned  without  day,  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
of  Florida  fixed  the  day  to  which  the  Senate,  as  a  legislative 
body  adjourned  as  being  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday 
in  January,  1873.  ^^^  ^^^  High  Court  of  Impeachment  being 
0Dmposed  of  the  members  of  that  body,  aside  from  its  presi- 
dency, was  not  only  the  creation  of,  but  dependent  upon,  the 
same  authority  for  its  existence.  Thus  the  trial  of  the  respon- 
dent, if  it  existed  in  continuance,  was  carried  over  until  that 
day. 

This  to  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  as  aforesaid,  was  an 
impossible  day. 

For  that  the  Governor's  term  of  office  is  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  State  terminated  at  the  opening  of  the  regular  session  of 
the  Legislature  in  the  year  A.  D.  1873,  though  the  Constitution 
does  not  read  that  he  shall  continue  in  office  until  his  successor 
shall  be  qualified,  it  was  evidently  intended  so  to  read,  and 
before  then,  in  legal  contemplation,   a  new  Governor  will  have 


192  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

been  elected  and  qualified.  And,  too,  the  Legislature  can  do 
no  business,  and  certainly  none  in  relation  to  the  matter  of  this 
impeachment  until  after  the  happening  of  that  event.  And 
again,  too,  because  the  punishment  provided  lor  in  the  Consti- 
tution in  the  event  of  conviction  cannot  be  meted  out.  And 
in  language  I  have  before  used  in  the  presentment  of  this  matter 
elsewhere,  I  further  say,  that  although  the  Constitution  pro- 
vides that  upon  extraordinary  occasions  a  convention  of  the 
Legislature  may  be  had,  yet  as  controlling  the  effects  of  such 
adjournment  the  power  comes  neither  within  the  legal  or  merito- 
rious action  of  the  Senate,  because  it  depends  upon  the  happen- 
ings of  its  contingencies  which  human  foresight  could  not  decide 
upon. 

And  again  it  would  be  a  transfer  of  power  over  and  control 
of  the  matter  either  to  the  Governor  actual  or  acting,  by  enabling 
him  to  withold  any  communication  to  the  Legislature  in  refer- 
ence to  thft  trial,  or  to  the  Legislature  itself  by  enabling  any 
member  thereof  by  withholding  his  consent  to  destroy  unanim- 
ity, whereby  it  could  not  act. 

In  support  of  my  proposition  as  to  the  effect  this  extra 
session  may  have,  I  quote  from  a  communication  on  this  very 
subject  from  the  pen  of  a  gentleman  whose  well-earned  reputa- 
tion for  legal  sagacity  and  acumen  entitles  it  to  the  very  highest 
respect  and  consideration.  He  says:  "The  legal  effect,  if 
there  be  any,  of  the  action  of  the  Senate,  is  not  overcome  by  the 
present  extra  session,  convened  at  the  call  of  the  acting  Governor, 
for  if  the  effect  attached,  no  subsequent  action  can  avert  it.  The 
question  then  must  be  governed  by  what  the  law  fixed  at  the 
time,  whatever  that  w^as,  either  in  favor  or  opposed  to  the  posi- 
tion of  Governor  Reed,  and  no  subsequent  assemblage  of  the 
Legislature  in  extra  session  by  call  of  the  Governor  can  change 

it." 

And  as  this  communication  is  to  my  mind  conclusive  upon 
the  status  of  this  case,  I  read  it  in  full,  as  a  better  presentation 
than  I  can  originate :  •  % 

THE  DUTY  OF  THE  SENATE  IN  THE  IMPEACHMENT  MATTER. 

The  question  in  regard  to  the  legal  effect  of  the  action  of  the 
Senate  upon  the  status  of  Governor  Reed,  propounded  by  him 
to  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  has  excited  no  little  interest 
in  the  public  mind,  and  especially  during  the  discussion  of  it 
before  the  Judges  by  the  counsel  on  either  side.  The  course  of 
the  arguments  seemed  to  have  been  directed  to  sustain  or  to 
oppose  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  in  the  first  place,  and  sec- 
ondly, the  effect  in  law  of  the  action  of  the  Senate — that 
action  being  the  adjournment  of  the  Senate  to  a  day  beyond  the 


.      CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 93 

official  existence  of  Governor  Reed.  The  discussion  was  an 
interesting  one  to  us,  and  was  conducted  with  much  ability  on 
both  sides.  With  much  anxiety  was  the  opinion  of  the  Judges 
awaited.  The  opinion  has  been  given,  and  though  the  Judges 
differ,  yet  one  thing  has  been  settled  by  it,  and  that  is  that  the 
question  is  one  for  the  determination  of  the  Senate  alone.  With 
all  due  deference  to  those  who  hold  other  views,  we  believe  that 
the  question  does  not  turn  upon  technical  ideas  of  "jurisdiction," 
for  in  all  matters  involving  personal  rights  the  courts  have  jurisdic- 
tion to  investigate  and  inquire  into  them,  as  the  court  did  in 
this  case.  There  was  no  "  case  "  before  the  court.  An  opinion 
as  to  the  law  was  asked,  and  as  propounded  there  was  involved 
the  question  whether  Governor  Reed  was  restored  to  his  official 
functions  by  the  action  of  the  Senate.  The  opinion  of  a  major- 
ity of  the  Judges  asserts  that  whatever  may  really  in  law  be  the 
effect  of  this  action,  the  Senate  alone  is  the  tribunal  to  declare 
it.  This  proceeds  from  no  want  of  jurisdiction  in  the  Supreme 
Court  to  investigate  the  subject,  but  as  a  rule  from  a  declared 
principle  of  law,  that  whilst  one  tribunal  has  a  case  pending 
before  it,  another  court,  although  of  concurrent  jurisdiction,  will 
not  undertake  to  decide  any  question  as  to  the  effect  of  the  action 
of  the  court  having  first  acquired  cognizance  of  the  case  until 
after  final  action,  but  leave  the  question  to  be  decided  by  the 
court  in  which  it  originated.  In  the  present  case  the  rule  of  law 
is  especially  applicable  according  to  the  opinion  of  a  majority, 
for  the  reason  that  the  Senate  has  exclusive  jurisdiction  of 
impeachments. 

Until  the  Senate  shall  finally  decide,  the  court  cannot  inter- 
fere, but  it  is  nowhere  intimated  that  should  the  Senate  trans- 
gress any  of  its  powers,  the  court  cannot  so  declare  and  give 
effect  to  its  own  judment  in  any  given  case. 

Granting,  then,  that  the  Senate  is  the  only  tribunal  to  decide 
the  legal  effect  of  its  own  acts  pending  the  impeachment  and 
until  they  themselves  decide  or  order  affimatively  the  final  dis- 
position of  the  case,  the  question  still  remains,  what  is  the  legal 
effect  of  their  action  in  this  case  ?  We  do  not  understand  that 
the  question  rests  upon  the  simple  act  of  adjournment,  nor  was  the 
argument  of  the  counsel  in  behalf  of  Gov.  Reed  based  on  it,  but  on 
it  coupled  with  the  other  and  important  facts,  that  the  adjournment 
was  without  his  consent  and  in  opposition  to  his  wishes  and  pro- 
test, and  to  a  period  beyond  his  official  Hfe,  when  no  trial  and 
no  judgment  of  acquittal  could  restore  him  to  his  rights,  even  if 
by  any  stretch  of  ideas  upon  the  subject  there  could  by  any  trial 
at  all.  The  question  then  still  being  one  for  the  decision  of  the 
Senate,  by  what  law,  it  may  be  inquired,  is  it  to  be  governed  ? 
We  say  by  the  law  of  the  land,  controlling  and  governing  all 
rights,  private  and  official.     The  Senate  (no  more  than  any  other 

13 


194 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


tribunal  vested  with  any  judicial  power)  is  not  a  law  for  them- 
selves, with  the  right  to  decide  according  to  their  mere  caprice ; 
nor  does  there  exist  anything  in  what  is  called  the  usages  and 
customs  of  parliament  as  contra-distinguished  from  the  law  apper- 
taining to  all  cases,  to  justify  a  departure  from  legal  rules  and 
principles.  In  the  celebrated  case  of  Warren  Hastings,  Lord 
Thurlow,  then  Lord  Chancellor,  affirmed  that  the  usages  of 
parliament  as  contra-distinguished  from  the  common  law  had  no 
existence.  "  In  times  of  barbarism,"  he  said,  "when  to  impeach 
a  man  was  to  ruin  him  by  the  strong  hand  of  power,  the  usage 
of  parliament  was  quoted  in  order  to  justify  the  most  arbitrary 
proceedings."  He  added,  "that  the  same  rule  of  procedure 
and  of  evidence  which  obtain  in  courts  below,  he  was  sure 
would  be  rigidly  followed."  The  House  of  Lords  sustained  this 
view,  and  during  the  trial  all  questions  upon  the  admissibility  of 
evidence  were  decided  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common 
law  as  announced  by  the  Judges.  According  to  this,  the  princi- 
ples and  rules  of  the  common  law  are  to  be  invoked  m  the  pro- 
gress of  the  trial  to  determine  all  questions  affecting  the  rights 
of  the  accused,  for  if  it  were  otherwise  there  would  be  no  rule 
by  which  the  citizen  could  measure  his  actions  and  none  by 
which  his  rights  could  be  determined,  for  the  usages  of  parlia- 
ment furnish  none.  If,  then,  the  rules  and  principles  of  the 
common  law  govern  the  court  in  the  progress  of  the  trial  as 
the  only  law  that  exists,  the  same  reason  that  affirms  and  main- 
tains it  is  equally  forcible  to  support  the  proposition  that  all  legal 
coiisequences  to  the  accused,  resulting  from  the  action  of  the  court, 
are  likewise  to  be  ascertained  and  determined  by  the  law  of  the 
land.  These  effects  cannot  rightfully  be  averted  by  resolution 
of  the  Senate  alone,  for  by  itself  the  Senate  cannot  change  the 
law,  but  at  most  it  can  only  rightfully  prescribe  rules  to  gov- 
ern its  own  action,  and  regulate  its  own  proceedings. 

If  the  law  pronounces  that  the  action  of .  the  Senate  in 
this  case  has  the  legal  effect  to  discharge  Governor  Reed  from 
the  impeachment,  then  it  is  their  duty  so  to  declare,  for  the 
rule  of  law  which  requires  it  is  as  obligatory  on  the  Senate  as  on 
all  other  courts  or  tribunals  exercising  judicial  powers. 

The  inquiry  naturally  results,  what  is  the  law  upon  this 
subject  ?  We  have  already  said  a  simple  adjournment  by  itself 
does  not  perhaps  have  the  effect  claimed,  any  more  than  the 
adjournment  of  a  court  does  of  itself  so  operate.  But  when  a 
court  pending  a  trial  discharges  the  jury  and  adjourns  against 
the  consent  of  the  accused,  and  without  any  reason  which  the 
law  regards  as  sufficient,  the  authorities  which  were  cited  iii  the 
argument,  as  we  understand  them,  affirm  that  as  a  rule  of  law 
the  party  is  entitled  to  be  discharged. 

Now  wliat  are  the  facts  here?     The  adjournment  was  not 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 


195 


the  result  of  any  necessity,  either  of  law  or  of  unanticipated 
occurrence.  Governor  Reed  was  arraigned ;  the  Senate  organ- 
ized as  a  court;  a  plea  was  filed  and  issue  made.  The  accused 
demanded  a  trial,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do  under  the  express 
terms  of  the  Constitution.  Without  any  reason  declared,  or  so 
far  as  we  know  existing,  the  adjournment  was  ordered,  and  by 
the  operation  of  the  Constitution,  k?iown  to  the  Senate,  that 
adjournment  carried  the  Senate  over  to  next  January,  which  was, 
as  also  known  to  the  Senate,  beyond  the  official  life  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. The  deduction  of  fact,  as  well  as  of  law,  which  we  hold 
to  follow  from  this  is,  that  the  adjournment  of  the  Senate  and  the 
continuance  of  the  impeachment  before  it,  was  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  a  trial,  but  that  there  should  be  no  trial ;  and  we  hold  it 
to  be  against  any  principle  of  law,  that  a  party  arraigned  can 
be  held  to  prevent  a  trial  instead  of  to  give  him  a  trial,  and 
that  natural  justice  at  least  requires  that  in  all  such  cases  the 
effect  should  be  a  discharge;  and  any  and  all  courts  should, 
when  the  question  properly  comes  before  it,  so  declare.  And 
why?  Simply  because,  as  it  seems  to  us,  the  spirit  of  the  law 
which  gives  power  in  order  to  try  is  violated,  and  the  spirit  of 
justice  requires  that  the  party  should  be  held  discharged,  for 
he  is  presumed  to  be  innocent  until  the  contrary  is  proved,  and, 
as  in  such  case,  no  chance  to  prove  him  guilty  exists,  he  is  entitled 
to  the  practical  benefit  of  the  principle  applicable  in  his  behalf. 

The  legal  effect,  if  there  be  any,  of  the  action  of  the 
Senate,  is  not  overcome  by  the  present  extra  session,  convened 
at  the  call  of  the  acting  Governor,  for  if  the  effect  attached,  no 
subsequent  event  can  avert  it.  The  question  then  must  be  gov- 
erned by  what  the  law  fixed  at  that  time,  whatever  that  was, 
either  in  favor  or  opposed  to  the  position  of  Governor  Reed,  and 
no  subsequent  assemblage  of  the  Legislature  in  extra  session 
by  call  of  the  Governor  can  change  it. 

If  these  views  be  correct,  the  Senate  will  not  only  be  doing 
justice  to  itself,  but  to  the  body  of  the  people,  not  to  mention 
Governor  Reed  himself,  by  at  once  ordering  the  discharge  of 
the  impeachment.  Any  other  course  will  afford  a  proof  that  the 
tactics  of  party,  assuming  the  guise  of  public  good,  are  of  more 
potent  control  than  the  law,  which  it  is  the  highest  interest  of 
Senates,  courts  and  people  to  have  administered. 

In  the  able  appeal  made  by  Messrs.  Peeler  &  Raney,  they 
more  particularly  relied  upon  the  question  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Supreme  Court  to  pass  upon  the  legal  effect  of  the  action 
of  this  court.  And  as  to  this  question  alone,  did  the  majority  of 
the  court  confirm  itself,  so  far  as  any  disagreement  was  con- 
cerned? And  while  Justice  Westcott,  who  delivered  the  opinion 
of  the  court  too  plainly  to  be  misunderstood,  conceded  what 
would  have  been  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  court  in  the  event 


196  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

of  the  question  coming  before  the  court  in  other  circumstances, 
he  held  that  tht^jcourt  was  by  the  comity  of  courts  estopped  from 
taking  such  jurisdiction  in  this  case  as  would  call  for  a  full  dec- 
laration of  the  rights  of  this  respondent. 

But  as  to  what  constituted  an  acquittal  within  the  meaning 
of  the  Constitution,  he  fully  agrees  with  Chief  Justice  Randall 
when  he  says  that,   and  I  here  quote  from  his  opinion  : 

"  What  is  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  word  acquittal 
as  here  used  in  the  Constitution?  The  court  does  not  differ  as 
to  the  proper  definition  of  the  term  as  here  used.  It  is  our 
unanimous  opinion  that  it  is  not  restricted  to  an  actual  judg- 
ment of  acquittal  after  a  vote  upon  full  evidence  failing  to  con- 
vict by  the  requisite  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  an  organized 
Senate. 

"We  think  its  true  signification  to  be  a?iy  affirmative  final 
action  by  a  legal  Senate  other  than  a  conviction,  by  which  it 
dismisses  or  discontinues  the  prosecution.  Any  final  disposition 
of  the  impeachment  matter  by  the  Senate,  other  than  a  convic- 
tion, is  therefore  an  dicqmitdi] ,  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  dis- 
qualification from  performing  the  duties  of  the  ofin^ce.'''' 

Judge  Westcott  fully  agrees  with  the  Chief  Justice  in  all  but 
the  question  of  jurisdiction.  And  I  shall,  therefore,  read  the 
opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Randall  as  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  on  the  question  now  here  presented  for  the  determina- 
tion of  this  the  High  Court  of  Impeachment. 

As  to  jurisdiction  now  or  hereafter,  Judge  W.  says:  ''  Our 
power  in  the  matter  of  this  impeachment  is  limited  and  circum- 
scribed by  the  fact  that  it  is  a  matter  beyond  our  jurisdiction 
entirely.  After  an  impeachment  perfected  according  to  the  Con- 
stitution the  whole  matter  is  with  the  Senate,  and  it  has  the 
exclusive  right  of  determining  all  questions  which  may  arise  in 
the  case.  If  its  action  is  unconstitutional  we  have  the  right 
and  power  to  declare  its  nullity,  and  in  a  proper  case  before  us  of 
any  party  to  enforce  the  right  of  which  it  proposed  to  deprive 
him. 

Particularly  was  there  no  difference  of  opinion,  as  to  the 
total  want  of  analogy  between  the  jurisdiction,  power  and  final 
action  of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  of  the  Senate 
of  a  State  in  this  country.  And  while  this  was  true  it  was  con- 
ceded beyond  controversy  that  the  action  of  this  forum  would 
and  must  be  that  of  a  court,  one  in  which  questions  of  law  and 
evidence  are  to  be  viewed  and  passed  upon  with  the  same  gov- 
erning principles  that  regulate  inquiries  into  analogous  subjects; 
matter  in  all  judicial  tribunals  proper. 

And  the  doctrine  that  in  an  impeachment  "  the  same  rules 
of  evidence,  the  same  legal  motions  of  crimes  and  punishments 
prevail ;  for  impeachments  are  not  framed  to  alter  the  law,  but  to 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  I97 

carry  it  into  more  effectual  execution.  The  judgments  and 
action  must  therefore  be  such  as  is  warranted  by  legal  princi- 
ples and  precedents,"  as  fully  sustained  by  the  authorities 
cited,  was  recognized  in  all  their  force,  as  applicable,  and  but 
for  the  want  of  jurisdiction,  would  have  received  the  judgments 
of  that  court  in  sustaining  that  for  which  the  respondent  con- 
tended. 

This  doctrine  is  fully  laid  down  in  Webster  in  the  Prescott 
case,  by  Woodeson  in  his  lectures,  4  Black.  Com.,  Chit.  Crim. 
Law,  and  other  authorities  cited  and  read  in  that  argument. 
And,  too,  Selden  in  his  works,  more  particularly  at  1651-2,  fully 
indorses  this  rule,  and  the  necessity  and  propriety  of  its  appli- 
cation. See,  too,  Lord  Winston's  case — motion  in  arrest  of 
judgment,  where  the  Lords  entertained  the  motion  and  decided 
it. 

And  then,  in  reference  to  the  general  practice  m  courts  of 
law,  when  the  issue  is  joined  and  the  jury  is  empanelled  and 
sworn,  and  the  cause  is  continued  without  the  consent  of  the 
defendant,  either  on  motion  and  the  discharge  of  the  jury,  or 
by  the  withdrawal  of  one  juror,  by  the  consent  of  the  court, 
the  defendant  is  thereby  discharged  and  acquitted. 

Before  I  cite  in  the  argument  any  authorities  to  this  well 
settled  point.  I  add,  that  in  this  case  the  court  was  the  court  and 
jury.  The  Senators  were  sworn  to  try,  etc.,  and  having  been  so 
sworn,  should  have  returned  a  verdict;  and  not  having  done  so 
and  the  court  having  adjourned,  and  particularly  as  no  day  was 
given,  respondent  was  entitled  to  an  acquittal  and  discharge  as 
asked  for. 

To  this  rule,  see  the  People  vs.  Barrett  and  Ward,  2  Cairns 
Report  304. 

Reynolds  vs.  State,  3  Kelley  (Ga.),  Report  Sup.  C,  53,  cit- 
ing State  vs.  McKee,  i  Bailey,  651,  where  the  court  say:  Taking 
then  our  own  decisions,  and  those  of  the  United  States  Courts  of 
New  York  and  England  together,  we  are  enabled  to 
say  that  a  jury  after  they  are  charged  can  be  discharged, 
and  the  prisoner  tried  a  second  time,  for  the  following  causes 
only : 

Consent  of  the  prisoner;  illness  of  one  of  the  jury,  the  prisoner 
or  the  court;  absence  of  one  of  the  jurymen;  the  impossibility  of 
their  agreeing  on  a  verdict.  Beyond  these  I  apprehend  the  court 
has  no  right  to  go. 

See,  too.  Mount  vs.  State  of  Ohio,  14  Ohio,  295. 

Hawkins'  plea  of  the  Crown,  title  Discontinuance,  243. 

Mr.  Emmons  then  read  the  opinion  of  Judge  Randall. 


198  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

OPINION  OF    JUDGE    RANDALL. 

The  communication  of  Governor  Reed  states  a  case  pur- 
porting to  be  the  case  made  by  the  record  of  proceedings  of  the 
Senate  organized  for  the  trial  of  his  impeachment. 

The  case  as  found  in  the  journal  of  the  Senate  does  not  dif- 
fer essentially  in  any  legal  aspect  from  that  stated  by  him. 

The  question  presented  is,  what  is  the  effect  of  the  action 
taken  by  the  Senate  and  the  Assembly  upon  the  honorable,  the 
Assembly,  which  was  lately  pending  before  the  Senate  upon  the 
personal  and  political  rights  of  Governor  Reed,  and  the  political 
rights  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people. 

The  office  and  purpose  of  the  process  of  impeachment,  as 
was  well  stated  by  one  of  the  counsel  who  appeared  in  behalf  of 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  is  to  provide  that  the  State  may  not 
be  degraded  by  a  delinquent  officer ;  and  as  well,  as  was  stated 
by  other  counsel,  that  in  this  process  neither  the  State  nor  any 
citizen  should  be  deprived  of  any  lawful  right  by  the  action  of 
any  branch  of  the  government. 

It  was  well  urged  that  this  court  had  no  authority  to  sit  in 
review  of  or  to  reverse  or  nullify  the  action  or  proceedings* of  the 
Senate.  But  it  was  not  well  said,  in  a  legal  sense,  that  the  Sen- 
ate was  a  body  having  a  superier  jurisdiction,  because  its  powers 
comprehend  a  broader  and  more  elevated  plane,  untrammeled  by 
the  severe  rules  and  axioms  of  the  common  or  statute  law.  If 
this  be  true,  the  modern  theories  of  government  and  the  forms 
of  civil  governments  framed  in  the  later  periods,  are  but  solemn 
complicated  frauds,  machines  for  the  amusement  and  the  impov- 
erishment of  the  people.  If  all  political  and  judicial  supervisory 
power  is  lodged  in  any  one  body  of  men,  notwithstanding  the 
establishment  which  all  people  love  so  reverently,  organized 
under  written  constitutions,  which  in  terms  divide  the  powers  of 
government  into  several  departments  of  magistracy,  supposed  to 
be  created  to  perform  the  offices  of  correctives  and  balances,  then 
are  such  several  departments  mere  cheats  and  shams,  baubles  and 
playthings  invented  to  delude  and  ensnare. 

If  this  be  so,  what  need  of  any  other  department  than  a 
single  body  of  men,  or  indeed  a  single  human  being  covered 
with  tinsel,  whose  "ambrosial  locks"  and  imperious  nod  may 
dispense  all  power  and  all  justice  and  command  the  obedience 
of  all  other  men  ;  a  government  fashioned  after  that  of  heaven 
itself,  but  whose  Mentor  is  a  mere  piece  of  crumbling  pottery  ? 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Senate,  created  by  the  written  law 
of  the  people,  like  any  other  department  or  fraction,  has  such 
authority  as  is  conferred  by  law.  It  has  not  been  supposed  to 
be  a  tribunal  higher  than  the  executive  or  judicial  branches  of 
government.     As  a  judicial   body   it    can   act    only    upon    the 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  1 99 

request  of  another  branch  called  the  Assembly.  It  has  judicial 
jurisdiction  of  but  a  single  proceeding.  It  cannot  reverse  or  set 
aside  the  judgement  of  the  Supreme  Court,  or  of  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  It  may,  if  the  Assembly  complain  and  prove,  dis- 
miss our  members  for  violation  of  law,  but  it  cannot  prescribe 
our  judgments.  Neither  department  is  utterly  independent  of  or 
''above"  the  other.  The  Legislature,  by  the  repeal  of  a  law, 
may  take  from  the  courts  the  power  to  act  in  a  given  case 
depending  upon  the  existence  of  the  repealed  act,  but  it  cannot 
deprive  the  courts  of  the  power  to  administer  the  existing  law. 
It  may  pass  an  unconstitutional  act,  and  no  power  can  prevent 
its  action,  but  it  cannot  enforce  it,  nor  will  the  courts  permit  its 
enforcement ;  nor  can  the  Legislature  enforce  any  law  without 
the  aid  of  the  judicial  tribunals — neither  is  superior,  neither  is 
inferior. 

The  remarks  addressed  to  the  court  by  counsel  concerning 
the  higher  or  supervisory  character  of  the  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature, as  judicial  tribunals  of  which  the  courts  may  stand  in. 
pecuhar  awe,  cannot  be  considered  otherwise  than  as  an  argu- 
ment that  the  proceedings  of  the  Senate  in  such  capacity  were 
beyond  the  control  of  any  other  tribunal.  This  is  not  a  question 
in  the  consideration  of  the  matter  now  under  examination. 

The  simple  question  is,  what  is  the  necessary  legal  effect 
and  result  of  the  action  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly  upon  the 
impeachment  and  trial  of  the  Governor.  I  may  further  remark 
that  the  proceedings  of  the  Senate  in  this  matter  are,  unques- 
tionably, beyond  the  control  of  this  court,  even  as  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  court  are  beyond  the  control  of  the  Senate.  The 
respect  which  each  body  owes  to  itself  precludes  the  possibility 
of  any  interference  by  it  with  the  action  of  the  other,  or  any 
invasion  by  either  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the  other.  The  final 
action  of  the  Senate  is  to  be  examined  only  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  what  action  it  has  taken  and  what  results  legally 
flow  from  such  action,  to  the  end  that  such  results  may  be 
declared.  And  I  venture  to  declare  that  this  final  action  must 
be  examined  with  reference  to  the  law  governing  the  powers  of 
the  actor,  for,  so  far  as  the  rights  of  others  are  concerned,  even 
a  legislative  or  judicial  body  cannot  violate  the  law  so  as  to 
deprive  the  people  or  any  one  of  them  of  rights  intended  to  be 
secured  by  law,  without  abrogating  the  principle  underlying  the 
whole  fabric  of  Republican  institutions,  that  governments  are 
instituted  among  men  for  the  protection  of  men's  rights  ;  and 
the  courts  are  organized  as  integral  parts  of  the  government  for 
the  purpose  of  enforcing  this  protection. 

The  house  of  Assembly  impeached  the  Governor,  and  by 
virtue  of  the  Constitution  he  stood  bereft  at  once  of  the  Execu- 


200  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

tive  function  which  at  once  devolved  upon  the  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor.    The  Governor  yielded,  and  pleaded  to  the  charges. 

The  Senate  by  its  first  rule,  its  law  adopted  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  trial,  resolved  to  "continue  in  session  from  day 
to  day,  Sundays,  excepted  until  final  judgment  shall  be  ren- 
dered." 

The  Assembly  declared  itself  not  ready  to  prove  the 
charges  by  reason  of  the  absence  of  testimony  and  witnesses. 

The  Senate  by  a  vote  of  eleven  in  the  negative,  to  nine  in 
the  affirmative,  rejected  an  order  proposed  by  one  of  its  mem- 
bers "that  the  Senate  sitting  as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment 
do  now  adjourn  in  accordance  with  the  concurrent  resolution 
adopted  by  the  Senate  and  Assembly  for  the  adjournment  of  the 
Legislature. 

The  Senate  thus  refused  to  postpone  the  trial  as  was 
requested  by  the  Assembly,  and  thus  practically  repeated  or  re- 
affirmed the  rule  to  proceed  from  day  to  day  until  final  judg- 
ment. 

The  Governor  demanded  a  trial  and  protested  that  the  trial 
should  not  be  postponed  to  a  time  beyond  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  office,  and  insisted  that  such  postponement  not  only 
would  deprive  him  of  his  right  to  trial  and  his  right  to  be  heard 
in  his  defense,  which  was  secured  to  him  by  the  terms  of  the 
Constitution,  but  would  deprive  the  Senate  of  the  power  to  try 
him,  as  he  would  be  out  of  office  by  the  constitutional  limitation 
of  his  term  before  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  and  the 
power  of  the  Senate,  therefore,  to  give  judgment  would  be  gone ; 
such  postponement  would  leave  nothing  upon  which  a  judgment 
could  operate.  Whereupon  the  Assembly,  not  proceeding  with 
the  trial,  the  Senate  sitting  for  the  trial,  adjourned,  and  the  Sen- 
ate and  Assembly  forthwith  adjourned  without  day. 

Now  the  sole  question  is,  what  is  the  legal  result  and  the 
legal  effect  upon  the  rights  of  all  the  parties  affected.  I  cannot 
avoid  the  questions  by  declining  to  answer,  upon  the  ground  that 
the  court  cannot  determine  the  regularity  or  review  the  action 
of  the  Senate  in  its  judicial  capacity.  I  would  decline  such 
interference  whenever  it  should  be  demanded  from  any  source. 
Has  the  Senate  taken  such  action  that  as  to  itself,  and  to  Governor 
Reed,  and  to  the  proceeding,  it  must  necessarily  take  any  further 
action  in  the  case  to  bring  it  to  termination.  Is  its  power  over  the 
case  exhausted?  If  I  understand  the  majority  of  the  court,  they 
decline  to  interpret  this  action  of  the  Senate;  and  then,  I  think, 
they  do  proceed  to  construe  it,  differing  with  me  as  to  our  duty 
to  declare  our  ojjinion  of  its  legal  effect. 

They  conclude  that  the  proceedings  had  by  the  Senate  were 
not  final  until  so  declared  by  that  body,  while  my  conclusions 
are  that  the  action  taken  was  final  as  to  result  and  effect ;  and  if 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  201 

the  Senate  consider  the  matter  again  it  should  come  to  the  same 
conclusion,  uninfluenced,  however,  by  our  opinions  in  the  mat- 
ter of  its  duty,  of  which  it  alone  will  judge. 

I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination,  nor  is  it  material  in  my 
judgment,  to  comment  upon  the  various  authorities,  legal  and 
historical,  relating  to  impeachment  proceedings,  upon  the  legal 
effect  of  the  prorogation  or  dissolution  of  the  British  Parliament, 
for,  according  to  the  view  I  take  of  the  case,  I  may  agree  con- 
sistently with  the  argument  of  the  learned  counsel  who 
responded  to  the  counsel  of  Governor  Reed.  I  deal  only  with 
the  case  presented  and  its  peculiar  circumstances. 

I  conceive  that  the  analogy  between  the  qualities  'and  organ- 
ization and  powers  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  those  of  the 
Senate  of  this  State,  is  utterly  wanting  in  at  least  two  impor- 
tant particulars.  The  points  of  departure  may  be  discovered  in 
the  following  statement : 

1.  The  Senate  in  conjunction  with  the  Assembly  may 
adjourn  and  thus  dissolve  their  session,  and  may  thus  cease  to 
act,  and  deprive  themselves  of  the  power  to  act  in  a  legislative 
or  judicial  capacity,  of  their  own  volition. 

The  House  of  Lords  is  a  court  in  its  fundamental  existence, 
having  all  the  incidents  and  jurisdiction  of  a  judicial  tribunal  at 
the  common  law ;  having  power  to  try  not  only  political  but 
other  offenses,  and  to  review  the  judgments  and  proceedings  of 
all  other  courts;  its  judicial  existence  cannot  be  divested  or 
destroyed  by  its  own  action ;  it  cannot  dispose  of  cases  before 
it  by  its  dissolution  or  adjournment;  it  cannot  dissolve  itself; 
like  all  common-law  courts,  its  cases  remain  before  it  until  it 
takes  affirmative  action;  it  cannot  terminate  its  own  sessions  by 
adjournment,  but  only  by  the  command  of  the  sovereign,  and 
the  sovereign  cannot  dismiss  causes  from  its  jurisdiction.  Hence, 
the  prorogation  or  dissolution  of  the  Parliament,  being  done  in 
virtue  of  the  royal  command,  a  power  not  to  be  resisted  in  that 
respect,  does  not  divest  it  of  jurisdiction  over  pending  causes, 
and  an  impeachment,  being  a  proceeding  against  the  person,  sur- 
vives every  accident  save  the  death  of  the  accused.  (I  under- 
stand this  to  be  the  law  of  England,  and  I  think  the  death  of 
the  accused  destroys  from  that  moment  all  jurisdiction  of  the 
House  of  Lords  or  other  criminal  courts  over  the  proceeding, 
and  that  such  proceedings  as  were  pending  are  from  that 
moment  abated). 

2.  The  impeachment  before  the  House  of  Lords  is  a  pro- 
ceeding against  the  citizen  and  peer  in  his  individual  capacity 
for  offenses  committed  either  in  his  official  or  personal  capacity. 
The  trial  is  the  trial  of  an  offender,  and  the  judgment  is  that  of 
a  court,  the  highest  in  the  kingdom,  whose  process  issues  to 
enforce  its  judgments,  even  to  the  taking  of  the  life   of  the  per- 


202  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

son  convicted.  It  tries  and  convicts  of  murder  and  of  larceny 
upon  an  impeachment,  and  as  an  appellate  court  it  tries  the 
rights  of  liberty  and  property,  and  pronounces  and  enforces  its 
judgments  and  decrees  at  law  and  in  equity. 

The  Senate  can  judicially  try  only  upon  impeachment,  and 
it  can  try,  not  the  citizen  for  committing  crime,  but  only  an 
officer,  as  such,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  deposition  from  his  office 
and  eligibility.  Its  judgments  can  be  enforced  only  by  means 
of  judicial  process  from  the  courts  of  law,  construing  and  act- 
ing upon  the  judgment  of  the  Senate  as  upon  a  law  of  the 
State. 

One  deposed  from  office  by  the  judgment  of  the  Senate  may 
be  kept  from  office  only  by  the  courts,  the  power  of  the  Senate 
being  exhausted  by  the  rendition  of  its  judgment.  But  the 
judgment  of  the^  Senate  even  will  not  be  enforced  by  the 
courts,  if  the  judgment  be  not  authorized  by  the  law  of  the 
land,  of  which  the  courts  cannot  refuse  to  determine. 

The  Senate  must  have  jurisdiction  of  the  officer  or  it  can- 
not try  him.  If  the  Senate  postpone  the  trial  to  a  day  when  the 
officer  ceases  to  exist,  it  doth  forthwith  postpone  and  divest  it- 
self of  jurisdiction  over  the  matter  charged,  of  power  over  the 
officer,  of  the. power  to  render  a  judgment,  and  there  is  no 
other  logical  sequence,  in  my  judgment,  than  that  it  postpones 
the  case  out  of  its  jurisdiction,  and  so  there  is  nothing  further 
upon  which  the  Senate  or  court  can  operate.  In  other  words, 
the  case  is  dismissed,  gone  out  of  existence  so  effectually  that  it 
cannot  breathe  again,  no  power  can  restore  it,  and  the  accused 
discharged  from  the  custody  of  the  court. 

It  cannot  be  said  with  any  degree  of  plausibility  that  the 
constitutional  provision,  that  the  officer  impeached  shall  be 
*' deemed  under  arrest  and  disqualified  from  performing  any  of 
the  duties  of  the  office  until  acquitted  by  the  Senate,"  contem- 
plates an  acquittal  only  by  a  vote  of  ''  not  guilty." 

An  acquittal,  as  I  understand  it,  is  a  discharge  by  virtue  of 
any  action  of  the  Senate  whereby  it  refuses  expressly  or  other- 
wise further  to  entertain  the  case  or  act  upon  it,  or  which  places 
the  cause  beyond  its  reach,  and  by  which  it  has  no  loifger  any 
power  or  authority  to  render  a  judgment  upon  the  guilt  or  inno- 
cence of  the  officer. 

This  Senate  has  already  established  this  as  the  correct  inter- 
pretation, in  the  case  of  the  impeachment  of  a  high  judicial 
officer  of  this  State,  by  its  vote  that  the  prosecution  be  discon- 
tinued and  the  case  dismissed.  Upon  this  the  officer  resumed, 
without  (question,  the  duties  of  his  office.  If  the  constitutional 
provision  referred  to  contem})lates  a  vote  of  "  not  guilty "  or 
any  judgment  upon  the  merits  of  the  charges,  then  is  the  judge 
of  the  Sixth   Circuit    still  suspended,  and  incalculable  mischief 


CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA.  203 

and  wrong  done  to  the  people  by  his  subsequent  unauthorized 
action.  I  am  of  the  opinion,  and  I  submit  that  any  action  of 
the  tribunal  in  question  which  precludes  a  further  proceeding  in 
the  case  pending  before  it,  necessarily  terminates  the  case  as 
effectually  as  though  it  were  dismissed  in  express  words.  It  puts 
an  end  to  the  case  absolutely,  and  necessarily  discharges  the 
party  from  the  arrest. 

The  right  to  a  trial  on  the  part  of  the  accused  is  as  sacred 
as  the  right  to  try  on  the  part  of  the  accuser. 

The  power  to  suspend  and  postpone  the  trial  and  to  resume 
it,  depends  upon  the  jurisdiction.  The  right  to  arrest  and  sus- 
pend from  office  depend  upon  the  power  to  give  a  trial  and  to 
convict  or  acquit.  The  Constitution  contemplates  a  trial,  and 
the  power  to  try,  once  gone,  all  the  consequences  of  the  accusa- 
tion cease.     A  refusal  to  try  is  a  refusal' to  convict. 

Without  denying  the  power  claimed  on  the  part  of  the 
House  of  Lords  to  proceed  at  its  next  session  after  a  dissolution 
of  the  Parliament  and  to  conclude  any  business  begun  and  not 
concluded,  and  not  denying  the  power  of  the  Senate  to  adjourn 
and  postpone  the  trial  of  an  impeachment  to  a  day  when  it  may 
proceed  to  try  the  officer  accused,  it  is  my  judgment  that  the  post- 
ponement to  a  day  when  it  will  have  no  jurisdiction  of  the  officer 
is  an  absolute  dismissal  of  the  matter  from  the  further  considera- 
tion of  the  Senate,  and  a  discharge  of  the  accused  must  follow 
as  a  matter  of  law. 

So,  concluding  upon  the  premises  stated,  I  must  upon  my 
convictions  of  duty,  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  Governor  Reed 
had  the  right  officially  to  solicit  the  opinion  of  the  court,  when- 
ever, after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  he  saw  fit  to  do  so ; 
that  he  had  a  lawful  right  after  such  adjournment  to  resume  the 
power  and  proceed  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  pertaining  to 
the  Executive  Department  whenever  he  saw  fit.  Yet  it  was 
wise  to  address  the  constitutional  advisers  of  the  Executive  upon 
the  matter  before  resorting  to  any  measure  which  would  have 
disturbed  the  peace  of  the  community. 

As  my  brethren  have  come  to  other  conclusions  as  to  their 
duty;  have  formed  other  opinions  as  to  the  status  of  the  pro- 
ceeding in  question,  or  that  the  Senate  alone  can  determine  the 
effect  of  its  action  by  an  express  declaration,  while  I  regret  to  be 
obliged  to  differ  from  them,  I  am  equally  obHged,  out  of  respect 
to  the  law,  to  cheerfully  acknowledge  that  my  conclusions  are  not 
legitimate,  for  so  the  court  decides.  And  I  respect  its  opinions, 
as  all  good  citizens  should,  notwithstanding  any  differences  of 
private  judgment. 

The  counsel  for  the  Managers  read  and  filed  the  following  : 


204  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  proceed  this  day  at  12  m.  with 
the  prosecution  of  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed,  and  that  the  Man- 
agers and  counsel  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  take  such  pro- 
ceedings to  secure  the  immediate  attendance  of  State  witnesses 
as  are  necessary  and  proper  to  do  in  the  premises. 
Adopted  by  the   Assembly  May  2,  1862. 

M.  H.  Clay, 
Clerk  of  the  Assembly. 

Mr.  Wentworth  moved  that  the  Senate  as  a  High  Court  of 
Impeachment  for  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed  do  now  adjourn 
until  to-morrow  at  12  m. 

Which  was  agreed  to. 

And  the  Senate  as  a  High  Court  adjourned. 


The  conspirators  now  fully  realizing  the  predicament  into 
which  Day  had  got  them,  by  calling  an  extra  session  of  the 
Legislature,  began  to  cast  all  sorts  of  epithets  upon  his  devoted 
head.  As  a  common-place  observation,  Reed  had  killed  two 
birds  with  one  stone.  The  issuance  of  his  proclamation  declar- 
ing himself  Governor  had  not  only  put  his  case  before  the  court, 
but  had  so  frightened  Day  as  to  induce  him  to  call  the  Legisla- 
ture together.  If  the  Legislature  had  not  been  called  together 
the  conspirators  would  have  succeeded,  and  Governor  Reed 
would  have  remained  suspended  until  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  office.  A  second  caucus  was  held  in  the  hotel,  and  Cessna, 
Johnson,  Stearns,  Purman,  Wentworth  and  several  others,  as 
well  as  the  author  of  this  work,  were  present,  and  a  concurrent 
resolution  was  agreed  upon  to  be  rushed  through  the  Legislature 
at  all  hazards.  This  resolution  was  to  be  presented  as  having 
passed  both  Houses  at  the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature,  and 
was  invented  as  a  complete  answer  to  Judge  Emmons'  argument 
before  the  High  Court  of  Liipeachment,  that  the  Senate  having 
adjourned  to  an  "  impossible  day,"  such  adjournment  operated 
as  Reed's  acquittal.  On  May  3d,  the  day  on  which  the  High 
Court  of  Impeachment  was  to  meet,  this  resolution  was  presented 
by  Cessna  in  the  Assembly,  and  passed  without  a  dissenting 
vote.  The  resolution  was  immediately  reported  to  the  Senate. 
Shortly  after  the  resolution  was  reported  the  High  Court  of 
Impeachment,  after  several  feeling-shots  by  test  votes  as  to  how 
the  Senators  would  jjrobably  vote  on  Emmons'  motion,  the  court 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  205 

adjourned  until  5  o'clock  p.  m.  As  soon  as  the  court  adjourned 
the  astute  Purman,  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  know- 
ing this  resolution  to  be  such  a  glaring  fraud,  did  not  dare  report 
it  as  an  important  matter,  but  reported  it  among  several  others 
as  lust  bills,  the  resolution  being  the  last  in  the  enumeration. 
These  bills  and  resolutions  were  objected  to  by  John  A.  Hender- 
son and  McCaskill,  Democrats.  Henderson  looked  at  Purman 
and  smiled,  and  then  rose  and  moved  that  the  resolution  be  laid 
on  the  table,  which  was  unanimously  carried.  The  following  is 
the  resolution : 

Be  it  Resolved  by  the  Asse?nbly,  the  Senate  concurring,  That 
the  journal  of  the  Assembly  for  the  12th  day  of  February,  1872, 
be  corrected  by  inserting  the  following  concurrent  resolution 
which  passed  this  House  on  that  day  but  was  by  mistake  omitted 
from  the  journal;  also  that  the  Senate  journal  of  the  i6th  day 
of  February  be  corrected  in  like  manner  by  the  insertion  of  the 
said  joint  resolution,  which  reads  as  follows,   viz: 

Resolved  by  the  Assembly,  the  Senate  concurring,  That  the 
present  session  of  the  Legislature  shall  be  adjourned  sine  die  on 
Monday,  the  19th  instant,  at  12  o'clock,  meridian,  and  the  pre- 
siding officers  of  both  houses  shall  at  that  hour  declare  their 
respective  Houses  so  adjourned. 

Resolved,  further,  That  should  the  present  session  of  the  Leg- 
islature adjourn  sine  die  before  the  trial  of  Harrison  Reed,  Gov- 
ernor, is  completed,  the  acting  Governor  is  requested  to  call  a 
special  session  for  the  purpose  of  proceeding  with  said  trial, 
whenever  the  managers  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  and  Har- 
rison Reed,  Governor,  shall  notify  the  Secretary  of  State,  in 
writing  that  they  are  ready  for  trial,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  pos- 
sible. 

After  the  exposition  of  this  resolution  the  Democratic  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  thought  it  expedient  to  investigate  the  acts 
and  doings  of  honest  Cessna.  John  A.  Henderson  had  moved 
a  resolution  to  the  effect,  and  as  the  discharge  of  Governor  Reed 
waxed  hot  on  the  part  of  the  conspirators  he  thought  the  time 
had  arrived  when  the  Democrats  should  know  what  was  in  store 
for  them  in  case  Day  should  remain  Governor.  The  following 
reflected  the  yolicy  of  Day  and  his  followers: 


206  carpetbag  rule  in  florida. 

Senate  Chamber,  | 

Tallahassee,  Fla.,  May  4,  1872.  j 
To  the  Senate: 

Your  committee,  appointed  under  a  resolution  of  the  Sen- 
ate,  of  date  the  2d  instant,  in  words  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Henderson  moves  the  appointment  of  a  special  com- 
mittee of  three,  who  shall  examine  the  pay  rolls  of  the  Senate 
and  Assembly  of  the  last  session,  and  also  the  statements,  returns 
and  pay  rolls  of  the  several  committees  of  the  Senate  and 
Assembly  which  have  been  returned  to  the  Comptroller's  office, 
and  report  upon  the  various  refusals  to  allow  pay  in  every  case, 
and  upon  the  cases  of  suspended  pay  in  every  case,  and  who 
made  a  verbal  report  of  the  same  day,  desire  to  submit  the  fol- 
fowing  report : 

That  the  appropriation  to  W.  E.  Burleigh,  for  pay  as  clerk 
of  the  Investigating  Committee  of  the  last  session,  appointed  to 
enquire  into  the  sales  of  the  Pensacola,  Georgia  and  Tallahassee 
Railroad;  of  Hamilton  Jay,  as  clerk  of  the  Assembly  Judiciary 
Comminee,  and  of  Leroy  D.  Ball,  as  clerk  of  the  Assembly 
Committee,  to  examine  the  books  of  the  State  Treasurer  and 
Comptroller,  were  disallowed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  Assem- 
bly, on  the  pay  rolls  as  made  out,  because  "the  services  of  such 
clerks  for  these  committees  were  not  authorized  by  the  Assem- 
bly." 

That  the  janitors  of  the  last  session  were  not  borne  on  the 
pay  rolls,  and  consequently  were  not  paid,  because  these  attaches 
were  not  by  name  included  in  the  Appropriation  Bill,  and  conse- 
quently could  not  be  paid. 

We  are  satisfied  that  the  janitors  were  in  regular  atten- 
dance with  the  knowledge  of  each  House,  and  ought  to  have 
been  paid. 

We  are  further  satisfied  that  the  clerks  aforesaid,  or  some  of 
them,  did  serve,  but  how  much  we  cannot  say.  On  this  subject 
we  cannot  omit  to  say  that  in  addition  to  the  application  of 
W.  E.  Burleigh,  for  pay  as  clerk  of  the  Railroad  Investigating 
Committee,  $260  has  also  been  paid  to  Mr.  Bowes  for  like  ser- 
vices, and  the  sum  of  $270  has  been  paid  to  F.  A.  Dockray  for 
same  services. 

The  multiplicity  of  clerks  about  the  capitol  during  the  ses- 
sion, as  well  as  in  vacation,  who  are  emyloyed  without  authority 
of  law,  and  who  press  for  recognition  and  payment  by  appropri- 
ation of  the  Legislature  is  a  growing  evil,  and  calls  for  our 
uncpialified  disapprobation. 

Your  committee  have  found  one  suspended  claim  in  the 
office  of  the  Comptroller,  coming  within  the  sco])e  of  our  resolu- 
tion, as  follows:  In  a  "statement  of  expenses  incurred  by  the 
Assembly  Committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  sale  of  the 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  207 

Pensacola  and  Georgia  and  Tallahassee  Railroad,  January  session, 
1872,  between  January  12  and  February  8,  27  days,"  are  the  fol- 
lowing items:  To  F,  A.  Dockray,  clerk,  27  days,  at  $10  per 
day,  $270;  to  F.  A.  Dockray,  witness,  4  days,  at  $3  per  day, 
$12;  mileage,  $18;  actual  expenses  allowed  in  lieu  of  mileage, 
$30;  to  F.  A.  Dockray,  14  days  at  $20,  expenses  incurred  in 
Washington  and  New  York  investigating  testimony  produced 
before  the  committee  preliminary  to  session  of  the  Legislature, 
$240;  United  States  currency,  $280,  which  was  certified  ''cor- 
rect," by  order  of  committeee,  and  signed  W.  K,  Cessna,  chair- 
man. The  last  item  in  this  bill  had  been  suspended  by  the 
Comptroller,  because  it  was  not  expenses  incurred  by  authority 
of  the  Legislature'or  of  either  branch,  and  not  covered  or  included 
by  the  appropriation. 

It  would  be  injustice  to  fail  to  say,  that  while  this  committee 
were  making  their  investigations,  Mr.  Cessna  called  at  the  office 
of  the  Comptroller,  and  having  obtained  leave  of  the  Comptroller, 
withdrew  this  statement  and  cancelled  this  last  item,  stating 
that  his  approval  was  not  intended  to  certify  its  payment,  but 
that  it  was  his  idea  that  the  voucher  would  be  the  certificate  of 
correctness  upon  which  payment  would  be  made,  and  that  he  had 
declined  to  sign  such  voucher. 

Very    respectfully, 

JOHN  A.  HENDERSON, 
ROBERT  MEACHAM. 

Osborn  and  his  conspirators  now  exposed,  outgeneraled  and 
utterly  confounded,  could  be  seen,  night  and  day  flying  from 
Democrat  to  Democrat,  beseeching  them  most  solemnly  to 
enter  into  a  combination  with  them  to  save  them  and  their  chief 
from  disaster  and  disgrace,  and  in  consideration  of  their  support 
the  conspirators  were  to  divide  all  the  offices  of  the  State  equally 
with  them.  The  Democrats,  remembering  the  Ross-Johnson- 
Christy  trick,  contemptuously  declined.  The  Democrats  and 
Governor  Reed's  Republican  friends  granted  them  only  one 
request,  which  was  to  adjourn  the  High  Court  of  Impeachment 
from  day  to  day  so  as  to  give  the  conspirators  ample  time  to 
prepare  for  death — for  it  was  a  dreadful  thing  for  them  to  die  by  • 
Harrison  Reed  ascending  the  throne.  The  following  proceed- 
ings of  the  court  will  show  how  the  conspiracy  was  crushed  out, 
and  the  rio;htful  Governor  sustained  : 


2o8  CARPETBAG    RULE    IN    FLORIDA. 

HIGH  COURT  OF  IMPEACHMENT,    FOUR  O'CLOCK  P.    M. 

High  Court  of  Impeachment  met  pursuant  to  adjourn- 
ment. 

The  Chief  Justice  in  the  chair. 

The  roll  was  called  and  the  following  Senators  answered  to 
their  names : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Crawford,  Dennis,  Eagan,  Hender- 
son, Hill,  Hunt,  Johnson,  Kendrick,  McKinnon,  Meacham, 
McCaskill,  Purman,  Sutton,   Weeks  and  Wentworth  — 17. 

A  quorum  present. 

The  Sergeant-at-Arms  made  proclamation. 

The  managers,  with  counsel,  and  the  counsel  for  respondent, 
appeared  in  court. 

The  argument  of  counsel  was  concluded. 

Mr.  Dennis  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute  for  the 
order  of  Mr.  Henderson: 

Ordered,  That  the  Assembly  is  hereby  notified  that  the  Sen- 
ate will  continue  to  sit  as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment  for  the 
trial  of  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  and  that  the  managers  are 
hereby  required  to  proceed  with  the  prosecution  of  the  Articles 
of  Impeachment  presented  by  them. 
• 

Mr.  Billings  moved  to  lay  the  order  of  Mr.  Dennis  on  the 
table. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  with  the  following 
result : 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative  were  : 

Messrs.  Billings  Crawford,  Eagan,  Henderson,  Hunt, 
Johnson,  Kendrick,   McKinnon,  McCaskill  and  Sutton  — 10. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were  : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Dennis,  Hill,  Meacham,  Purman, 
Weeks  and  Wentworth  -  8. 

So  the  motion  was  laid  upon  the  table. 

Mr.  Purman  moved  that  the  room  be  cleared  for  the  purpose 
of  deliberation. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  with  the  following 
result. 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative  were  : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Dennis,  Hill,  Meacham,  Purman, 
Weeks  and  Wentworth — 8. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were : 

Messrs.  Billings,  Crawford,  Eagan,  Henderson,  Hunt, 
Johnson,  Kendrick,  McKinnon,  McCaskill  and  Sutton — 10. 

So  the  motion  was  not  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Dennis  offered  the  following  order: 


HARRISON     REED. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  209 

Ordered,  That  further  consideration  of  the  motion  be  pos- 
poned  until  Monday  at  12  o'clock. 

Mr.  McCaskill  moved  that  the  motion  be  laid  upon  the 
table. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for,  with  the  following 
result: 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmitive  were: 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Billings,  Crawford,  Eagan, 
Henderson,  Hill,  Hunt,  Johnson,  Kendrick,  McKinnon, 
Meacham,  McCaskill,  Sutton  Weeks  and  Wentworth — 16. 

Mr.   Dennis  voting  in  the  negative. 

So  the  motion  was  laid  upon  the  table. 

Upon  the  original  order  of  Mr.  Henderson, 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  with  the  following 
result : 

Those  voting  in  the  affirmative  were : 

Messrs.  Billings,  Crawford,  Eagan,  Henderson,  Hunt, 
Johnson,  Kendrick,  McKinnon,  McCaskill  and  Sutton — 10. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were  : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Atkins,  Hill,  Meacham,  Purman  Weeks  and 
Wentworth — 7. 

So  the  order  was  adopted. 

The  Chief  Justice  then  declared,  as  a  legal  consequence  of 
the  adoption  of  said  order,  Harrison  Reed,  Governor,  discharged 
from  custody. 

The  Senate  chamber  was  packed  to  overflowing,  both  with 
the  excited  friends  of  Governor  Reed  and  those  of  the  con- 
spirators-during  the  roll-call  on  the  motion  to  discharge  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  the  casual  spectator  could  readily  distinguish  the  con- 
tending factions  by  their  demeanor  as  the  roll  was  proceeded  with. 
Whenever  a  Senator  would  answer  yea,  as  his  name  was  called, 
the  conspirators  and  their  friends  would  flinch  and  dodge  as 
though  they  were  engaged  in  a  stiff  skirmish  line  of  battle  with 
Reed  and  his  friends,  and  each  contending  foe  was  not  firing  at 
the  advancing  column,  but  at  his  individual  man.  When  the 
name  of  Dennis  Eagan,  of  Madison,  was  reached,  and  he 
answered  yea,  Cessna,  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Manageer, 
threw  his  hands  across  his  head  and  wrung  them  as  though  he 
was  suffering  the  most  excruciating  pains.  Purman  ran  to  pre- 
vent the  Secretary  from  returning  the  vote  as  recorded,  but  the 
Chief  Justice  paid  no  attention  to  him,  and  ordered  the  vote  to 
be  returned.  When  the  Chief  Justice  announced  that  Governor 
Reed  was  discharged,  men  could  be  seen  in  every  direction  run- 
14 


2IO  CARPETBAG  RULE  Iti  FLORIDA. 

ning  and  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices  that  Reed  was  again 
Governor  of  Florida.  The  Board  of  Managers  looked  around 
for  its  chairman  to  lead  them  back  to  the  Assembly  hall,  but  he 
could  not  be  found,  so  the  balance  of  the  managers  deem  it  wise 
to  get  away  the  best  they  can,  and  they  retreat  in  confusion,  the 
counsel  for  the  managers  leading  the  retreat.  Governor  Reed 
marched  into  the  Executive  office  and  took  possession.  While 
the  Senate  was  struggling  to  get  a  final  vote  on  the  motion  to  dis- 
charge, Day,  now  filled  with  anguish,  was  pacing  back  and 
forth,  first  to  the  door  of  the  Executive  chamber  and  peeping 
^'it  for  his  messenger,  and  then  back  into  the  office.  When  the 
messenger  came  running  with  the  dreadful  intelligence  which 
was  the  end  of  his  career  as  Governor,  so  anxious  was  he  to 
know  the  result  that  he  did  not  wait  his  arrival,  but  ran  to  meet 
him  and  asked :  "How  is  it?"  "Reed's  discharged."  He 
turned  his  back  on  the  messenger  and  wept. 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature,  C.  H.  Pearce,  the  great 
colored  leader,  who  had  been  convicted  by  the  conspirators  on 
a  trumped  up  charge  of  offering  a  bribe,  was  turned  out  of  the 
Senate.  Rolling  Baker  and  J.  B.  C.  Drew,  who  defended  him, 
instead  of  making  the  point  that  the  carrying  of  a  message  for 
another  was  no  crime,  made  the  point  that  the  indictment  read 
"  the  jurors,"  instead  of  "the  grand  jurors."  This  point  was 
properly  overruled  by  the  court  below  and  affirmed  by  the 
Supreme  Court.  When  the  vote  was  taken  to  declare  Pearce's 
seat  vacant,  Purman,  who  expected  to  come  before  the  freed- 
men  again  for  office,  and  fearing  Pearce  would  remind  them  as 
to  how  he  voted,  left  the  Senate  to  avoid  his  name  appearing  as 
one  of  those  who  voted  to  turn  Pearce  out,  and  the  Senate 
passed  a  resolution  stating  that  fact.    (See  Senate  journal,  p.  20). 

Nothing  of  importance  was  transacted  by  either  branch  of 
the  Legislature  at  this  extra  session,  after  the  discharge  of  Gov- 
ernor Reed,  but  the  appointment  of  J.  P.  C.  Emmons 
Attorney-General.     Both  Houses  adjourned  sine  die  May  6th. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Supplicant  Conspirators.  The  Conspirators  Capture  th& 
Republican  Convention  of  1872,  but  Completely  Exonerate  Gov- 
ernor Reed.  Bloxham  Nominated  for  Governor  by  the  De7?io- 
crats,  and  the  Ring  Desperate.  The  Election  of  Bart  and  the 
Ca?ivass  of  the  Vote. 

Governor  Reed,  who  had  been   slandered,  persecuted,  pur- 
sued and  hunted  like  the  partridge   upon  the  mountain  by  the 
Osborn  conspirators,  because  he  had  interrupted  their  systema- 
tized plan  for   wholesale   plunder,  was  now  at  the  head  of  the 
government,    with  all   the  appointing  power  in    his    hands,   in 
which  situation  he  could  have  had  himself  re-elected,  or  could 
have  turned  the  State  over  to  the  Democrats  if  he  had  possessed 
the  weakness  of  nine-tenths  of  humanity   to  avenge  themselves 
for  wrongs  perpetrated  upon  them  whenever  opportunity  offered; 
but  the  Governor,  following  the   teachings  of   the  good  book, 
which    declares   ''vengeance  is  mine,   I  will  repay,"  was  deter- 
mined to  pass  the  scepter  of  the  State  into  the  hands  of  a  decent 
Republican  if  possible.     The  conspirators  were  well  aware  that 
Reed  stood  with  flaming  sword  in  hand  between  the  guberna- 
torial chair  and  the  Bureau-agent,  M.  L.  Stearns,  now  began  to 
beseech  him  humbly  for  quarter.   Day,  the  fraudulent  Lieutenant, 
Governor,  was  the  first  to  do  him  reverence.     He  appeared  at 
the  Executive  Office  Nicodemus-like  in  the  night,  subsequent  to 
the  day  Governor  Reed  was  discharged,  confessed  his  sins  and 
asked  forgiveness  of  the  Governor.     He  informed  him  that  he 
was  misled  by  the  other  conspirators,  and  that  he  knew  from  the 
first  that  the   Articles   of    Impeachment  were  only  fabrications 
invented  by  Dockray,  Osborn  and  Company,  that  he  was  forced 
to  play  his  part  for  fear  that  the  conspirators,  who    were  instru- 
mental in  counting  him  in,  might  assist  Bloxham  in  getting  him 
out.     Governor    Reed,  with   much  vehemence,   said:     "Then 
you  were  willing  to  disgrace  me,  who  was  elected  by  the  people, 
with  falsehood,  to  sustain  a  corrupt  ring,  and  yourself,  when  you 
knew  that  you  never  were  elected  Lieutenant-Governor.     Your 
days  as  Lieutenant-Governor  are  numbered."     Day  saw  that  the 
Governor  was  not  quite  disposed  to  shield  him  from  the   pro- 


212  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

ceedings  then  pending  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  regard  to  his 
title  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  retired  from  the  Executive  Office 
in  dispair.  Chief  Osborn  was  the  next  to  offer  supplication. 
His  term  of  office  would  expire  at  the  end  of  Governor  Reed's 
administration,  and  he  did  not  see  his  way  clear,  as  all  of  Gov- 
ernor Reed's  troubles  had  originated  from  him.  He  suggested 
to  the  Governor  the  proposition  of  going  in  with  him  from  hence- 
forth, the  honor  and  spoils  to  be  equally  divided  between  them. 
Governor  Reed  made  this  the  occasion  of  opening  the  door  of  the 
pent  up  prison  house  of  his  thought,  and  with  quivering  voice  he 
said:  "Go  in  with  you,  who  have  so  often  attempted  to  dis- 
grace me  and  my  adminissration !  Go  in  with  you,  who  have 
brought  dishonor  on  the  Republican  party  of  Florida,  so  that  it 
is  a  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  decent  people  !  Go  in  with  you,  and 
your  gang  of  plunderers  and  freebooters,  who,  except  for  the  in- 
tervention of  the  Executive  would  have  bankrupted  the  State  for 
generations  unborn!  Go  in  with  you,  whose  conduct,  even 
since  you  were  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
has  been  one  continued  effort  to  breed  a  conflict  between  the  two 
races !  Go  in  with  you,  who  have  caused  me  to  be  bankrupt  in 
trying  to  allay  the  excitement  which  you  and  your  Federal  office 
holders  have  aroused  among  the  freedmen !  Palsied  be  my 
tongue  should  it  sanction  such  an  agreement,  and  withered  be 
my  hands  if  they  should  be  used  to  carry  out  any  agreement 
entered  into  by  me  with  such  an  unprincipled  wretch  as  you." 
Osborn,  who  now  saw  that  Governor  Reed  could  not  be  brought 
to  his  support,  under  any  consideration,  took  leave  of  him  and 
invented  another  scheme. 

The  Osborn  conspirators,  now  thoroughly  convinced  that 
Reed  was  a  very  dangerous  animal  to  deal  with,  invented  a  sec- 
ond plan  to  get  control  of  the  State  Government.  Although  they 
had  heretofore  warned  the  freedmen  against  trusting  any  South- 
ern man,  be  he  Republican  or  Democrat,  and  had  driven  some 
of  the  Southern  Republicans  to  the  Democrats,  some  to  sympa- 
thize with  the  Democrats,  some  on  the  half-way  ground,  and  a 
majority  in  the  dangerous  attitude  of  silent  lookers-on,  they  now 
made  a  complete  change  of  front,  and  pitched  upon  O.  B.  Hart, 
a  Southern  Loyalist,  an  ex-slaveholder,  a  native  of  Florida,  who 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 


was  to  be  incidentally  spoken  of  by  them  as  a  probable  nominee 
for  Governor  on  the  Republican  ticket  of  that  year.     This  was 
to  be  done  to  mislead  Governor  Reed  and  the  friends  of  honest 
government.     Hart  was  only  to  be  nominated  in  case  of  emer- 
gency and  as  a  last  resort.     M.  L.  Stearns  was  their  man,  to  be 
nominated  if  they  could  succeed  in  alienating  the  freedmen  from 
Reed  and  uniting  them   on  Stearns.     The  agreement  was  that 
they  would  go  into  the   convention  with   plenty  of  money  and 
bad  whisky,  to  be  used  on  such  of  the  freedmen  as  were  hungry, 
and  with  a  great  flourish  of  trumpets  declare  Stearns  nominated 
whether  nominated  or  not ;  and  if  a  general  break  up  was  immi- 
nent, then  Stearns  was  to  rise  in  the  convention,  thank  them  for 
the  high  honor  they  had    conferred  upon    him  and  tell  them 
he  now  withdrew  for  the  sake  of  harmony  in  the  great  Republi- 
can party.     Such  action  would  naturally  draw  the  sympathies  of 
the  average  freedman  to  him,  two-thirds  of  whom  would  be   as 
innocent  as  to  his  true  intentions   as  so  many  children  playing 
with  a  rattlesnake  for  pretty  calico.     After  his  withdrawal.  Hart 
was  to  be  immediately  nominated  as  the  candidate  for  the  whole 
party,    thereby  apparently  showing    that   the    ring    had   been 
whipped  out.     Stearns,   after   withdrawing  from  this   so-called 
nomination,  was  next  to  be  nominated  Lieutenant-Governor  for 
his  generous  act  of  withdrawing  from  the  head  of  the  ticket  to 
save  the  party.     Was  the  plot  successful  ?     It  was  evident  to  the 
best  informed  anti-ring  men  in  the  party  that  chief  Osborn  had 
issued  some  important  orders  to  be  carried  out  in  all  the  counties 
in  selecting  delegates  to  the  nominating   convention ;  but  just 
what  those  orders  were  it  was  difficult  to  surmise  for  some  time. 
Some  of  Governor  Reed's  old  friends  wKo  had  sworn  allegiance 
to  the  ring  during  the  Governor's  suspension  from  office,  were 
yet  understood  to  continue  their   allegiance,  but  it  had  really 
ceased  the  very  instant  he  was  discharged  by  the  Senate,  though 
the  ring  was  unaware   of   that  fact.     By  this  means   Governor 
Reed  was  informed  as  to  what  the  ring  intended  to  carry  out. 
A  call  for  a  Republican  State  Convention  was  issued  by  E.  M. 
Cheney,  to  meet  at  Tallahassee,  which  convention  met  in  July  or 
August  of  1872.     Congress  having  passed  a  law  allowing  Flori- 
da two  representatives,  the  convention  had  to  nominate  candi- 


2  14  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

dates  for  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor  and  two  Members  of 
Congress.  The  convention  met,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 
fact  was  developed  that  the  ring  had  put  in  some  good  work  in 
all  the  counties  to  get  possession  of  the  State  Government. 
Money  was  used  lavishly  by  the  ring,  with  whisky  to  back  it  up> 
and  the  average  colored  brother,  who  was  of  course  now  hun- 
gry, must  be  abundantly  fed  at  once  or  his  vote  would  be  cast 
against  the  ring,  who  had  taught  them  that  selling  their  votes  was 
true  citizenship.  Money  was  so  much  in  demand  by  the  colored 
brother  that  the  members  of  the  ring  attempted  to  teach  him  a 
second  lesson,  that  he  should  vote  for  a  man  on  principle  and 
not  for  money ;  but  the  colored  brother  refused  to  learn  the 
esson,  and  insisted  on  that  first  taught  him,  which  was 
money  and  not  principle,  and  that  this  money  must  be  forth- 
coming without  debate.  His  demand  was  at  once  complied 
with,  and  the  coffers  of  the  colored  brother  were  agreeably 
filled,  though  the  ring  doubted  his  fidelity  to  them.  Had  he 
not  been  contaminated  with  whisky  and  money  at  this  conven- 
tion, and  a  free  and  fair  expression  of  the  will  of  honest  Repub- 
licans been  had.  Governor  Reed  would  have  been  the  choice  ot 
the  convention  for  Governor.  There  was  an  intense  feeling 
against  Stearns  and  other  members  of  the  ring,  and  they  had 
their  hands  full  running  to  and  fro  in  the  convention  trying  to 
keep  him  in  line  of  battle  until  a  decided  victory  was  won.  As 
the  roll  call  was  proceeded  with  it  disclosed  the  fact  that  the 
colored  brother,  who  had  now  worked  the  ring  for  all  it  was 
worth,  was  deserting  its  standard  in  large  numbers  and  joining 
the  anti-ring  element  in  the  convention.  The  ring,  who  had 
captured  the  organization  of  the  convention  in  the  outset  and 
elected  secretaries  whom  they  could  rely  upon  in  any  emergency, 
began  to  see  that  they  had  lost  their  money  and  whisky,  and 
without  bold  work,  immediate  work,  and  effective  work,  would 
lose  all.  They  began  to  dispute  the  result  of  the  roll  call  which 
had  left  Stearns  behind.  A  recount  was  demanded  by  them, 
which  was  had,  and  Stearns  was  declared  nominated.  At  once 
a  rush  was  made  by  a  majority  of  the  delegates  to  the  Senate 
chamber  for  the  purpose  of  holding  another  convention.  The 
ring  observing  this  determination  of  the  delegates,  were  prema- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA  215 

tiirely  forced  to  play  their  second  card,  but  wnich  worked  out 
with  as  much  precision  as  a  mathematical  problem.  They 
rushed  to  Stearns  and  informed  him  that  now  was  the  time  to 
save  the  day,  to  play  the  withdrawal  card.  Stearns,  who  was 
awaiting  the  signal,  after  partially  restoring  order  in  the  conven- 
tion, arose  and  said  that  he  had  been  fairly  nominated  by  the 
Repubhcans  of  the  State  as  their  standard  bearer,  but  for  the 
sake  of  harmony  in  the  Republican  party  he  preferred  fighting 
in  the  ranks  as  a  private  soldier  until  victory  should  be  won. 
This  had  the  desired  effect,  as  great  applause  followed  it.  O. 
B.  Hart  was  now  put  in  nomination  and  was  declared  the  nom- 
inee of  the  party  for  Governor.  Immediately  a  member  of  the 
ring  was  upon  his  feet  eulogizing  Stearns  as  the  martyr  of  the 
Republican  party  of  Florida  and  the  embodiment  of  republican- 
ism, and  winding  up  by  nominating  him  for  Lieutenant  Governor, 
and  he  was  accordingly  nominated.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
the  ring,  though  beaten  in  their  first  game,  were  successful  in 
their  second.  W.  J.  Purman,  who  had  fled  from  Jackson 
County,  and  who  was  now  playing  between  S.  B.  Conover, 
State  Treasurer,  and  the  ring,  was  nominated  for  Congress,  and 
J.  T.  Walls  was  renominated  in  the  Second  Congressional  Dis- 
trict. The  ring,  now  fearing  that  Governor  Reed  would  take  the 
stump  in  vindication  of  himself  before  the  people,  of  the  oft 
repeated  calumnies  which  had  been  heaped  upon  him,  by  Arti- 
cles of  Impeachment  and  otherwise,  from  the  very  inception  of 
his  administration  to  the  last  year  thereof,  dreaded  the  conse- 
quences; as  they  had  no  evidence  which  would  stand  the  test, 
even  of  an  insignificant  cross-examination.  In  open  convention^ 
and  in  the  face  of  all  the  charges  they  had  made  against  the 
Governor,  they  declared  themselves  to  be  the  enemies  of  safe 
and  honest  government,  and  to  mankind  generally.  A  resolu- 
tion was  introduced  by  a  one  of  the  conspirators  and  unan- 
imously adopted,  endorsing  in  every  shape  the  administration  of 
Governor  Reed  as  an  honest  and  upright  administration ;  and  as 
a  token  of  their  sincerity  a  resolution  was  also  unanimously 
adopted  pledging  the  support  of  the  party  to  Governor  Reed  as 
the  next  United  States  Senator  for  the  term  beginning  March  4, 
1873,  and  ending  March   4,   1879.     This,  they  claimed,  would 


2l6  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

only  be  a  just  reward  for  their  unwarranted  persecution  of  him 
for  four  years. 

The  Democrats  met  in  convention  that  year  and  nominated 
the  valiant  Bloxham  for  Governor,  and  Colonel  Bullock,  of  Marion 
County,  for  Lieutenant-Governor.  General  Barnes,  of  Jackson 
Coutny,  was  nominated  for  Congress  in  the  First  District,  and  S.  L. 
Niblack,  of  Columbia  County,  in  the  Second  District.  The 
Democrats,  encouraged  at  the  success  of  Bloxham  in  1870,  this 
year  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  canvass  all  over  the  State,  and 
if  Governor  Bloxham  had  been  spared  from  his  friends,  whose 
speeches  drove  the  votes  of  the  freedmen  from  him,  he  would 
have  been  elected.  These  indecent  and  blatant  politicians  went 
all  over  the  State,  not  canvassing  for  votes,  but  denouncing  "  nig- 
gers," so  as  to  become  more  prominent  before  the  Democratic 
party  than  Bloxham.  Indeed,  some  of  the  older  politicians  in 
that  party  desired  Bloxham's  defeat  to  make  room  for  themselves 
as  the  leaders  of  the  party.  There  was  a  considerable  number 
of  the  better  class  of  white  Republicans  who  met  in  convention 
at  Jacksonville,  styled  the  Liberal  Republican  Convention,  and 
endorsed  Bloxham  for  Governor  and  Horace  Greeley  for  Presi- 
dent, and  the  road  looked  clear  for  Bloxham  until  his  so-called 
friends  took  the  stump.  This  canvass  was  a  very  bitter  one,  and 
the  ring  was  driven  to  desperation.  Another  weight  that  Blox- 
ham had  to  carry  was  that  he  was  viewed  by  the  freedmen  as 
being  in  opposition  to  General  Grant,  who  was  at  the  time  the 
nominee  of  the  National  Republican  party,  and  the  average  freed- 
man  looked  upon  him  as  their  only  Lord  and  Saviour. 

The  ring,  after  stultifying  themselves  by  the  indorsement  of 
Governor  Reed's  administration,  received  orders  from  Chief 
Osborn  from  Washington,  that  a  persistent  fight  must  be  made 
in  every  county  to  elect  men  to  the  Legislature,  and  none  others, 
who  would  support  him  for  the  United  States  Senate.  The 
Federal  office-holders  set  to  work  to  carry  out  these  orders  to 
the  very  letter.  The  most  ignorant  of  the  freedmen  were  taught 
that  they  were  as  competent  for  the  Legisluture  as  the  most 
intelligent  among  them,  which  teachings  were  received  by  many 
of  them  with  ''Hurrah  for  Osborn!"  This  teaching  was  pro- 
tested against  by  the  most  intelligent  freedmen,   which  brought 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  217 

about  two  Republican  tickets  in  some  counties.  The  ring,  or 
Federal  office-holders,  of  course  furnished  them  all  the  money  nec- 
essary to  elect  the  ticket  or  count  it  in.  What  money,  whisky  and 
promises  failed  to  accomplish  the  United  States  Deputy  Marshals 
would  make  up  for  by  intimidation  at  the  public  meetings  and 
on  the  day  of  election  at  the  polls.  Osborn  was  not  to  be  known 
in  this  fight  as  opposing  Governor  Reed's  election  to  the  United 
States  Senate  until  after  the  State  election  had  been  held  and  the 
canvass  of  the  vote  by  the  State  board. 

S.  B.  Conover,  who  had  proved  treacherous  to  Governor 
Reed,  and  who  was  an  aspirant  at  the  convention  for  Guberna- 
torial honors,  now  turned  his  face  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
in  a  kind  of  three-cornered  fight.  He  made  a  fight  in  the  county 
convention  of  Leon,  but  failed  to  secure  the  nomination 
for  the  Legislature  on  account  of  his  unpopularity  with  the 
freedmen.  This  unpopularity  was  caused  by  his  having 
come  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1868,  adhering  to  the 
"mule  team"  faction,  and  then  suddenly  deserting  his  banner 
and  going  to  the  Osborn  faction,  and  because  of  his  treachery  to 
Governor  Reed.  The  ring  would  not  trust  him,  therefore  he 
was  forced  to  treat  with  Governor  Reed's  friends  to  have  any 
political  standing  at  all.  The  author  of  this  work  and  several 
others  of  Governor  Reed's  friends  were  sent  for  to  have  a  con- 
sultation with  him.  The  meeting  was  held  in  the  office  of  the 
State  Treasurer.  Conover  proposed  to  have  the  author 
withdraw  from  the  Republican  Legislative  ticket  and 
have  himself  put  on  the  ticket  in  consideration  of  the 
pay  allowed  a  member.  This  proposition  was  rejected.  He 
then  proposed  that  John  Whyatt,  colored,  who  had  been  nomi- 
nated at  the  same  time  the  author  was,  withdraw  for  the  same 
consideration,  which  was  accepted  by  Wyatt.  Conover  wanted 
Wyatt;  to  wait  the  result  of  the  election,  but  Wyatt  informed  him 
that  the  cash  must  be  paid  before  the  election,  as  he  could  wait 
for  contingencies.  The  money  was  paid  and  Wyatt  withdrew. 
The  Republican  majority  of  two-thirds  at  the  beginning  of  the 
reconstruction  had  by  the  plundering  conduct  of  the  ring  dwindled 
to  a  bare  majority  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  ring 
was  hard  pushed;  they  therefore  suggested  to  Governor  Reed 


2l8  CARPETBAC.  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

the  propriety  of  bringing  in  the  colored  troops  from  Georgia  to 
carry  such  counties  as  they  could  conveniently  be  imported  into, 
and  swell  the  vote  for  Governor,  but  he  declined  favoring  such  a 
proposition,  and  informed  them  that  he  had  promised  the  people 
to  give  them  a  fair  election  as  far  as  his  power  as  Governor  could 
be  extended,  and  that  he  would  countenance  no  steps  looking  to 
the  defeat  of  the  will  of  the  people,  and  that  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple ought  and  should  be  obeyed.  Notwithstanding  Governor 
Reed's  dissent  from  this  proposition,  it  was  attempted'to  be  car- 
ried out  in  Leon  and  other  counties.  All  necessary  arrangements 
were  made  with  Joseph  Bowes,  a  carpetbag  professional  ballot 
box  stuffer,  to  bring  them  in  on  the  day  of  election  in  Leon 
County  at  all  precincts  bordering  on  the  Georgia  line.  The 
Southeni  outrage  mill  was  to  grind  fine  enough  to  bring  to  their 
aid  at  the  polls  the  United  States  troops  on  the  day  of  election 
and  overawe  the  whites  and  prevent  them  from  interfering  with 
the  illegal  voters  from  Georgia.  This  attempt  at  fraud  proved 
abortive,  as  the  ring's  over-anxiety  to  secure  votes  for  the  head 
of  the  ticket  and  also  to  secure  the  legislative  delegation  from 
this  county  for  their  chief,  Osborn,  nominated  a  ticket  outside 
the  Republican  organization  in  oppositon  to  the  regular  ticket 
headed  by  C.  H.  Pearce  for  the  Senate,  who  had  been  convicted 
of  bribery  and  ousted  from  the  Senate  by  these  same  con- 
spirators, but  who  were  now  seeking  the  endorsement  of  his  peo- 
ple by  re-election.  The  alien  voters  were  to  cast  their  ballots 
for  the  ring  legislative  ticket,  as  well  as  for  Governor.  This 
scheme  was  discovered  by  Pearce  through  the  information  of 
Governor  Reed,  who  suspected  the  ring  would  attempt  what 
they  had  before  suggested  to  him.  This  scheme  was  made 
known  to  whites  through  Pearce  and  his  friends,  which  brought 
a  union  between  the  anti-ring  legislative  ticket  and  the  whites 
in  this  county  as  against  fraud.  This  scheme  was  denounced  in 
such  severe  terms  on  the  stump  both  by  the  Democrats  and 
anti-ring  Republicans  as  to  force  the  ring  into  a  denial  of  the 
plot ;  yet,  those  who  were  acquainted  with  the  character  of  these 
men,  know  they  still  meditated  fraud.  The  soldiers  were  placed 
at  each  polling  precinct.  Governor  Reed,  in  the  meantime, 
had  confidentially  instructed  those  sheriffs  of  the  different  counties 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  219 

that  he  could  rely  on,  to  arrest  and  imprison  any  one  who  came 
from  Georgia  and  voted  or  attempted  to  vote.  Bowes,  who  had 
the  management  of  the  whole  affair,  was  dubious  in  carrying  out 
this  plan,  as  he  was  convinced  that  it  could  not  be  done  without 
bloodshed,  as  the  whites  as  well  as  the  anti-ring  freedmen  had 
sworn  that  his  should  be  the  first  blood  shed.  The  colored 
troops  from  Georgia  hearing  of  the  threats  made  by  the  whites 
and  anti-ring  freedmen,  failed  to  appear  on  the  day  of  election, 
although  the  United  States  Deputy  Marshals  and  soldiers  were 
there  to  protect  them.  So  an  anti-ring  delegation  was  elected ; 
but  had  it  not  been  for  the  aid  of  the  whites  the  ring  would  have 
counted  in  its  delegation,  though  they  had  not  got  a  vote.  The 
ulterior  object  of  the  conspirators  in  making  O.  B.  Hart  the 
last  resort  for  the  nomination  for  Governor  was  that  he  was 
decrepit,  and  that  a  round  or  two  in  the  canvass  would  bring  a 
speedy  termination  of  his  life,  and  leave  Stearns  Governor  of 
the  State.  Governor  Reed  seems  to  have  been  cognizant  of  all 
their  tricks,  and  informed  Hart  that  this  was  their  object;  but 
the  old  man  was  so  very  anxious  to  become  Governor  that  he 
paid  no  attention  to  the  warning.  Hart  was  now  pushed  into 
the  canvass  as  though  he  was  a  young  and  healthy  man,  and 
when  the  campaign  closed  it  was  patent  to  all  that  the  old  man 
was  not  long  for  this  w^orld. 

The  State  was  carried  for  the  Republicans  by  between  four 
and  five  thousand  majority,  but  the  Legislature  was  very  close. 
The  rains  in  South  Florida  prevented  many  Democrats  from 
going  to  the  polls — for  this  is  where  Bloxham  must  look  for  his 
success.  The  ring  again  attempted  to  force  the  Returning 
Board  to  count  out  the  legally  elected  Democrats  to  the  Legisla- 
ture and  count  in  a  large  majority  for  the  Repubficans.  They 
informed  Governor  Reed  that  it  was  to  his  interest  to  count  in 
a  large  majority  of  Republicans,  as  he  had  been  endorsed  by 
the  Republican  Convention  as  the  next  United  States  Senator. 
He  gave  them  to  understand  that  he  did  not  want  the  senator- 
ship  unless  a  majority  of  the  legally  elected  members  of  the 
Legislature  should  say  so  by  their  votes.  J.  C.  Gibbs,  Secretary 
of  State,  was  besought  to  do  some  fradulent  counting,  and  the 
Osborn  conspirators  promised  to  make  him  the  next  Member  of 


220  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Congress  if  he  would  count  to  suit  them,  but  Gibbs  informed 
them  that  he  had  been  there  before.  Before  the  vote  of  the 
State  was  canvassed  by  the  Board,  Governor  Reed  discovered, 
in  looking  over  the  returns  sent  to  his  office,  that  the  returns 
from  Jackson,  Gadsden  and  Jefferson  Counties  had  been  opened 
and  the  returns  altered.  These  returns  gave  the  Democratic 
ticket  large  majorities  and  converted  Hart's  majority  into  a  minor- 
ity. The  real  party  who  altered  the  returns  was  one  Burleigh, 
a  carpet-bagger  who  was  a  clerk  in  Secretary  Gibbs'  office  at  the 
time,  and  Governor  Reed  had  often  warned  the  Secretary  that 
he  believed  him  to  be  a  spy ;  but  Gibbs  thought  him  to  be 
honest,  and  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  him.  The  conspira- 
tors, knowing  they  had  carried  the  State  and  had  a  small  major- 
ity of  Republicans  in  the  Legislature,  felt  confident  that  with  a 
free  use  of  money,  and  with  Governor  Reed  out  of  the  way 
they  could  re-elect  Osborn  to  the  United  States  Senate.  They 
had  endorsed  the  Governor  for  the  Senate,  and  all  honest  Repub- 
licans of  course  would  demand  his  election  in  case  the  Legisla- 
ture was  carried  by  the  Republicans.  Something  must  be  done 
to  weaken  Reed  in  the  estimation  of  the  Republicans  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Legislature.  It  is  believed,  though  I  am  not 
certain  in  this,  that  they  actually  hired  Burleigh  to  alter  these 
returns  so  as  to  implicate  Governor  Reed  and  give  themselves 
some  data  and  excuse  upon  which  to  base  oposition  to  the  Gov- 
ernor's election,  and  secure  the  election  of  Osborn.  The  author 
of  this  work  was  personally  acquainted  with  Burleigh,  and  after 
the  fraud  had  been  discovered,  and  Burleigh  was  about  to  leave 
the  State  for  fear  of  an  indictment,  he  inquired  of  him  as  to 
who  induced  him  to  commit  the  fraud,  and  he  unhesitatingly- 
declared  that  neither  Governor  Reed  nor  his  friends  nor  any 
Democrat  had  anything  to  do  with  it,  but  that  it  was  done  for 
the  benefit  of  the  party.  The  conspirators  constituted  them- 
selves the  party,  as  they  had  captured  the  party  organization. 
Before  the  State  Board  commenced  the  canvass  Governor  Reed 
requested  them  to  put  off  the  canvass  for  a  day  or  two,  as  he  had 
something  very  important  to  lay  before  them.  He  did  not  even 
inform  Gibbs  what  had  been  done,  and  Gibbs  was  as  ignorant 
as  to  the  alteration  of  these  returns  as  an  animal  without  reason. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  22  1 

The  Governor  privately  secured  new  returns  from  Jefferson 
and  Gadsden,  and  attempted  to  send  a  messenger  to  Jackson, 
but  was  betrayed,  and  then  for  the  first  time  he  revealed  confi- 
dentially to  Adams,  one  of  the  state  board  of  canvassers,  the  fact 
of  the  altered  returns  from  Jackson  and  asked  delay  in  opening 
the  convass  until  he  could  procure  a  true  return.  The  delay 
was  refused  by  Mr.  Adams,  who  claimed  that  they  had  a  correct 
copy,  which  would  be  substituted,  Again  opening  the  canvass, 
the  board  secretly  sent  Col.  M.  Martin  to  procure  a  new  return 
and  to  exposed  the  mutilated  copy  so  as  to  sustain  a  charge 
againsttheSecretary  of  State,  Gibbs,  and  Gov.  Reed,  of  attempted 
fraud  in  the  interest  of  the  Democrats,  This  would  dispose  of 
Reed  for  the  Senate,  and  as  Gibbs  would  almost  certainly  be  en- 
dorsed by  the  colored  brother  as  one  of  the  members  of  Hart's 
cabinet — he  being  a  manof  unquestioned  ability — this  would  end 
his  aspirations  and  his  place  would  be  filled  by  a  carpet-bagger. 
The  canvass  was  commenced  after  the  return  of  Martin,  and  all  the 
leading  chiefs  were  on  hand.  The  fraudulent  returns  from  the 
counties  named  were  thrown  out  and  the  true  returns  handed  in 
by  Martin  were  counted,  which  elected  the  State  ticket  by  a 
good  majority,  but  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature  was  very 
close.  The  ring  now  commenced  the  war  upon  Governor  Reed 
again  by  industriously  circulating  among  the  freedmen  that  he 
attempted  to  sell  out  the  Republican  party,  but  that  Colonel 
Osborn  and  the  members  of  his  ring  had  caught  him  and  Gibbs 
in  the  act  and  saved  the  freedmen  from  utter  destruction.  This 
false  accusation  had  great  weight,  not  only  with  the  mass  of  the 
freedmen,  but  with  some  of  the  more  intelligent,  who  believed 
that  Governor  Reed  was  the  guilty  party,  and  he  was  denounced 
by  the  members  of  the  ring  whenever  they  met  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  whom  they  suspected  would  support  him  for  the  Sen- 
ate, and  the  freedmen  were  instructed  to  brand  every  man  as  trai- 
tor who  dare  talk  of  voting  for  Harrison  Reed  for  United  States 
Senator.  Adams,  who  had  promised,  on  his  honor,  to  return  the 
fraudulent  returns  to  Governor  Reed  after  the  canvass,  and  con- 
scious of  the  innocence  of  the  Governor,  now  handed  the  returns 
to  some  of  the  members  of  the  ring  to  be  used  against  him  in  the 
future  politics  of  the  State,  and  more  especially  at  his  home  in  Du- 


2  22  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

val  County.  Though  Colonel  Bisbee  and  all  the  chiefs  were  fully 
advised  that  Governor  Reed  was  the  first  to  expose  this  fraud, 
yet  those  very  returns  were  used  in  Duval  County  against  him, 
and  they  were  kept  on  hand  by  some  member  of  the  ring  and 
read  to  the  freedmen  to  prevent  his  having  any  influence  with 
them  in  his  own  county.  Abram  Grant,  for  instance,  who,  we 
have  no  doubt,  believed  what  he  heard  the  members  of  the  ring 
assert,  said  that  he  believed  that  Governor  Reed  attempted  this 
fraud.  Grant,  a  freedman  himself,  and  knowing  very  little 
about  the  dark  doings  of  these  conspirators,  although  a  citizen 
of  the  Governor's  county,  was  allowed,  while  advocating  the 
nomination  of  Colonel  Bisbee,  to  declare  from  the  stump  that 
the  Governor  attempted  to  sell  out  the  party  by  means  of  these 
fraudulent  returns.  Grant  was  never  corrected  in  this  statement 
by  Bisbee  or  any  of  these  conspirators,  on  the  stump  or  in  the 
newspapers.  Was  Jthis  "edifying  to  the  old  or  hope-inspiring 
to  the  young,"  to  have  our  fellowman  slandered  in  this  wise  and 
refuse  to  raise  our  voice  against  it  ?  This  slander  could  not  with 
propriety  be  denied  by  these  men  because  they  were  accessory 
before  the  fact. 

A  week  before  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1873, 
Chief  Osborn,  anticipating  the  great  opposition  to  his  re-election 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  evacuated  Washington  and  hastened 
to  establish  his  headquarters  at  Tallahassee  in  the  old  City  Hocel, 
at  which  place  his  retinue  of  Federal  officeholders  soon  gathered 
to  do  the  bidding  of  their  chief.  Governor  Reed,  at  the  same 
time  watching  the  manoeuvres  of  the  ring,  set  to.  work  a  coun- 
ter plan  to  head  them  off.  He  proposed  to  Hart,  the  Governor- 
elect,  to  allow  him  the  privilege  of  delivering  the  annual  mes- 
sage to  the  Legislature.  To  this  proposition  the  ring  demurred, 
and  of  course  Hart  sustained  the  objection.  They  finally 
decided  to  allow  the  Governor  five  minutes  only  to  address  the 
Legislature.  They  knew  he  could  strike  some  heavy  blows  and 
that  he  had  them  in  store  for  the  ring,  and  if  he  was  permitted 
to  deliver  a  message  that  would  most  probably  review  the  con- 
duct of  the  ring  from  his  inauguration  to  his  exit,  it  would  cer- 
tainly cause  disaster  and  defeat  to  the  chief  and  the  election 
of  the  Governor  to  the  Senate.      He,  however,  had    to  accept 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  223 

the  short  time  allowed  him,  and  as  a  Christain  gentlemen, 
attempted  to  make  the  inauguration  of  Hart  as  imposing  as 
possible.  He  hired  a  fine  team  and  himself  and  family  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Tallahassee  depot  to  receive  Governor  Hart.  When 
the  train  arrived  with  Hart,  who  was  accompanied  by  a  number 
of  the  members  of  the  ring,  Governor  Reed  left  the  carriage 
and  went  to  the  car  which  bore  the  distinguished  guest,  and  after 
greeting  him  by  a  friendly  shake  of  the  hand,  offered  to  assist 
him  in  getting  his  traps  from  the  cars.  Hart,  whom  Governor 
Reed  had  appointed  at  the  beginning  of  his  administration  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  now  haughtily  turned 
away  from  him,  saying  that  he  had  other  matters  to  attend  to. 
Hart  and  his  ring  friends  then  got  out  of  the  car  and  actually 
took  possession  of  the  Governor's  carriage,  filled  it  with  himself 
and  the  ring  managers,  without  so  much  as  saying  "  by  your 
leave,"  and  drove  off  to  the  city,  leaving  Governor  Reed  and 
his  family  to  get  away  the  best  way  they  could.  Osborn  and 
his  officeholders  now  met  in  secret  conclave  and  arranged  plans 
to  capture  the  organization  of  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. It  was  well  known  by  them  that  at  least  three  members 
of  the  Leon  County  delegatfion,  Wallace,  Proctor  and  Conover, 
would  not,  under  any  circumstances,  vote  for  a  member  of  the 
ring  for  Speaker,  and  that  none  of  the  delegation  could  be 
brought  to  the  support  of  Osborn  unless  they  were  actually 
bought ;  and  they  could  not  elect  the  Speaker  with  Republican 
votes  without  this  delegation.  They  must  resort  to  strategy  to 
secure  the  election  of  one  of  their  number.  Colonel  M.  Mar- 
tin, who  had  also  received  great  favors  from  the  hands  of  Gov- 
ernor Reed,  being  appointed  by  him  warden  of  the  State  prison, 
when  he  was  near  starvation,  was  agreed  upon  as  the  man  who 
must  save  the  sinking  ship.  John  R.  Scott  was  again  made- the 
pliant  tool  of  the  ring,  though  he  professed  to  be  opposed  to 
them.  They  agreed  that  Scott  should  be  put  in  nomination  for 
Speaker  by  the  Republican  caucus,  and  that  Martin  should 
be  held  in  reserve  for  the  Democrats  to  vote  for,  as  they  knew 
that  the  whites  had  naturally  rather  have  a  white  man  to  preside 
over  them  than  one  of  their  fomer  slaves.  Scott,  as  usual,  was 
silly  enough  to   believe  that  the  ring  favored  him  for  Speaker. 


2  24  CARPETBAG  RULE  IX  FLORIDA, 

Scott  was  to  be  put  forward  because  he  was  black,  thus  com- 
pelling the  representatives  from  Leon  County  to  vote  for  him  or 
to  suffer  violence  from  the  freedmen,  who  would  be  told  that  the 
Leon  delegation  had  voted  against  one  of  their  own  color  for 
Speaker.  This  delegation  being  thus  forced  to  vote  for  Scott, 
some  carpet-bagger  would  nominate  Martin  and  the  other  car- 
pet-baggers, violating  the  caucus  obligation,  were  to  follow  after 
the  Democrats  had  given  votes  enough  to  elect  with  the  carpet- 
bag vote  thrown  to  them.  The  friends  of  Governor  Reed  were 
not  united  as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue,  and  he  had  no  white 
friend  among  the  carpet-baggers  in  the  Legislature  upon  whom 
he  could  depend.  This  division  among  the  Governor's  friends 
caused  some  of  the  anti-ring  members  to  ally  themselves  with 
S.  B.  Conover,  the  Governor's  State  Treasurer,  and  support  him 
for  the  Speakership,  not  because  they  had  any  special  confidence 
in  him,  but  because  they  believed  him  to  be  the  most  available 
man  against  Martin,  whom  the  Democrats  had  agreed  to  support 
in  case  there  was  any  chance  of  Scott's  election.  Conover  was 
reported  to  have  voted  for  Bloxham  when  he  ran  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor  in  1870,  and  unless  he  falsified  his  own  word,  he 
voted  for  Bloxham  this  year  when  he  ran  for  Governor.  The 
object  of  the  ring  in  attempting  to  secure  the  Speakership  was 
that  they  had  instituted  several  contests  for  Democratic 
seats  so  as  to  turn  enough  of  them  out  of  the  Legislature  to 
elect  Osborn  without  the  aid  of  the  Leon  County  delegation, 
who  were  pledged  to  the  whites  of  that  county  never  to  vote  for 
Osborn.     In  our  next  chapter  we  shall  see  how  they  succeeded. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Governor  Harfs  Administration.  The  Ring  Makes  preparation  to 
Capture  the  Organization  of  the  Lower  Honse  of  the  Legis- 
lature. The  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  18^4,  and  Carpet- 
bag Treachery  to  the  Negro.  Extracts  frofn  Governor  Harfs- 
Message.  Protest  of  the  European  Bo7idholders  Against  the 
Neglect  of  the  State  of  Florida.  The  Protests  of  Bondholders 
Gotten  up  to  Cover  Stearn^s  Tracks.  The  Assembly  Lnvestigat- 
ing  the  Stealing  Statutes.  The  Attempted  Sale  of  West  Flor- 
ida. M.  Martin  and  the  State  Prison.  Governor  Reed 
Attempts  to  Head  off  Stearns'  Railroad  Steal.  Governor  Reed's 
Memorial  as  to  His  Claim  Against  the  State,  and  the  Appoint- 
ment of  a  Joint  Committee.  A  Scramble  for  the  Agricultutal 
College  Money.      Varnum  Trips  up  Cowgill. 

The  administration  of  Governor  Hart,  though  he  was  the 
first  native  Governor  of  Florida,  was  full  of  vacillation  and 
uncertainty  as  to  a  real  line  of  policy.  His  administration  lasted 
for  fifteen  months,  the  most  of  which  time  he  spent  at  the  North 
in  the  fruitless  attempt  to  rebuild  his  health,  which  he  had 
wrecked  beyond  hope  of  recovery  by  being  forced  into  the  can- 
vass of  1872  by  the  members  of  the  Ring  for  the  express  purpose 
of  incapacitating  him  for  the  exercise  of  his  official  authority  if 
elected.  The  Ring,  now  further  to  humiliate  Governor  Reed, 
had  Hart  appoint  him  a  member  of  the  Board  of  County  Com- 
missioners of  Duval  County,  thinking  that  he  would  spurn  the 
idea  of  accepting  so  inferior  a  position  after  having  been  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State.  He,  however,  took  them  by  surprise  and 
accepted  the  position,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  began  to 
investigate  and  stir  up  the  carpetbag  scrip  ring  in  Jacksonville, 
and  after  having  struck  one  blow  at  a  fradulent  scrip  grab,  in 
which  he  beat  them  out  of  a  couple  of  thousand  dollars,  his' 
removal  was  demanded  by  the  Ring,  and  he  was  at  once  decapi- 
tated by  Hart.  Hart  went  to  the  North  after  the  adjournment  of 
the  Legislature  of  1873,  and  M.  L.  Stearns,  Lieutenant-Gov- 
15 


226  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA. 

ernor,  assumed  the  head  of  the  government.      His  first  step  was 
to  lay  wires  by  which  to  force  the  State  to  aid  him  to  secure 
the  nomination  for  Governor  three  years  henee.     WilUam  Archer 
Cocke,  the  Attorney-General,  refused  to  be  used  for  that  jjur- 
pose,  and  Stearns  was  driven  to  the  alternative   of  employing 
outside  counsel  to  bring  suit  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
pretending  to  protect  the  interest  of  the  State,   but  for  the  real 
purpose  of  getting  possession  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and 
Mobile  Railroad,  the  earnings  of  which  were  to  be   exclusively 
used,  as  far  as  possible  to  force  his  election  to  the  United  States 
Senate  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature ;  but  failing  in  tha^ 
to  compel   his  nomination  for   Governor  by   intimidating   and 
buying  out  those  freedmen  who   so  bitterly  opposed  him.     He 
began  to  interfere  with  the  local  school  boards  of  the  different 
counties,   and  whenever  he  could  influence  its  members,  no  one 
m  the  black  belt  counties  could  get  a   school   unless  he  was  in 
favor   of  Stearns'    and    Hart's   so-called   administration.      This 
administration  inaugurated  a  most  alarming  proposition  among 
the  freedmen,  which  came  near  precipitating  them  into  a  war 
among  themselves  with  reference  to  the  representation  in  the 
Legislature  from  the  colored   Methodist  and  Baptist  churches. 
The  freedmen  prior  to  the  emancipation  knew  nothing  of  any 
other  churches  than  the  Missionary   Baptist,  Primitive  or  foot- 
washing  Baptist,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal;  but  at  the  close 
of  the  war  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  sent  ministers  from  the  North,  the 
most  of  whom  were  men  of  intelligence,  and  these  men  enlisted 
some  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  freedmen  under  their  banner  as 
ministers.     These  ministers,    discerning  the  scarcity   of  leaders 
among  the  freedmen,   went   into   politics.      A  large  number  of 
them,  previous  to  this  year,  had  been  repeatedly  elected  to  the 
Legislature  and  had  been  fighting  the  Ring  under  the  leadership 
of  Governor  Reed,  which  had  alienated  them  permanently  from 
that  faction.      The    freedmen  who    belonged    to    the    Baptist 
churches  were  taught  that  the  members  of  the  Methodist  churches 
were  cheating  them   out  of  a   just  representation   and   of  their 
share  of  the  offices;  and  that  the  Ring  would  see  to  it  that  the 
Baptist  members   should  be  elected  to  the  Legislature.     This 
teaching  created  church  jealousy  and  great  prejudice,  which,  in 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  227 

some  counties,  caused  frequent  rows,  and  but  for  the  foresight 
and  better  judgment  of  the  more  inteUigent  ones  in  the  churches, 
a  general  outbreak  and  bloodshed  would  have  been  the  result 
among  the  colored  churches.  There  were  some  vacancies  to  be 
filled  in  the  Legislature  of  that  year,  caused  by  resignations, 
some  of  the  members  being  appointed  to  Federal  offices  by 
Walls,  Purman  and  Conover,  or  through  their  recommendation. 
In  one  county  two  Baptist  ministers  were  put  up  for  the  Legis- 
lature without  a  regular  nomination,  one  of  them  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  and  when  called  upon  to  make  a  speech 
said  to  his  auditors  that  if  elected  he  would  do  whatever  Gov- 
ernor "  Starns  "  told  him  to  do.  This  was  an  old  colored  Bap- 
tist preacher  in  Leon  County,  named  Henry  Griffin.  Acting 
Governor  Stearns  and  C.  A.  Cowgill,  Comptroller,  took  the 
stump  for  this  intelligent  candidate,  and  brought  to  bear  the 
whole  jDOwer  of  the  so-called  administration  in  his  behalf.  Grif- 
fin was  a  Primitive  or  foot-washing  Baptist,  and  the  other  candi- 
date was  a  minister  of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church,  whose 
name  was  John  N.  Stokes.  The  white  Democrats  and  the  freed- 
men  united  and  defeated  Griffin  and  Stokes,  but  Stokes  was 
counted  in  by  one  majority. 

The  Ring  having  been  defeated  in  the  attempt  to  re-elect 
Osborn,  turned  their  attention  to  M.  L.  Stearns  to  save  the  day. 
Conover,  who  had  been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  now 
began,  with  the  assistance  of  Purman  and  Walls,  the  Congress- 
men, to  appoint  some  of  the  most  influential  colored  men  to  some 
of  the  most  important  Federal  offices,  with,  also,  a  good  sprink- 
ling of  Democrats.  These  appointments  alarmed  Stearns  and 
his  followers,  as  the  masses  of  the  freedmen  now  saw,  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State,  their  own  color  filling  Federal 
offices  that  had  heretofore  been  held  by  some  of  the  most 
inferior  members  of  the  carpetbag  ring.  There  was  an  agree- 
ment among  the  members  of  the  Ring  to  go  On  no  bond  of 
any  freedman  appointed  by  Conover,  Purman  &  Co.  The 
white  Democrats  in  many  portions  of  the  State  did  not  hesitate 
to  endorse  these  appointments,  as  they  preferred  an  honest  col- 
ored man  in  a  Federal  office  rather  than  have  the  State  infested 
with  strangers  whose  sole  purpose  in  the  state  was  to  fatten  at  the 


228  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

expense  of  those  whose  interests  were  identified  with  the  soil;  and 
the  Osborn  carpet-baggers  who  had  grown  rich  from  plunder, 
Federal  and  State  offices,  absolutely  refused  to  go  on  these  col- 
ored men's  bonds  until  forced  to  do  so  when  discovering  that  the 
Southern  whites  were  only  waiting  for  them  to  refuse  so  as  to 
give  them  an  opportunity  of  going  on  the  bonds  themselves, 
hereby  proving  to  the  frcedmen  what  they  had  repeatedly 
asserted,  that  the  carpet-baggers  cared  nothing  for  the  interest  of 
the  negro,  but  to  secure  his  vote  to  place  them  in  office.  This 
administration  witnessed  the  inauguration  of  the  packing  of  juries 
for  political  purposes,  of  w^hich  we  shall  treat  in  a  future  chap- 
ter. 

The  Ring,  desiring  to  recover  their  lost  ground  in  the  lower 
branch  of  the  Legislature,  and  being  unwilling  to  trust  any  one 
of  the  members  of  the  Ring  as  candidate  for  the  Speakership  on 
account  of  the  anti-ring  sentiment  among'  the  Republicans  in 
that  body,  determined  to  capture  the  Assembly  by  stratagem. 
The  night  previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  the  Ring 
members  of  the  Legislature  called  a  caucus  meeting  of  all  the 
Rep;  b'.ican  members  to  settle  upon  some  one  as  the  Republican 
nominee  for  Speaker.  They  had  arranged  secretly  with  the 
Democrats  to  elect  M.  Martin,  warden  of  the  State  prison,  for 
Speaker.  The  Democrats  did  not  desire  to  vote  for  Martin,  and 
any  considerable  number  of  them  could  not  be  brought  to  his 
support  unless  the  Ring  could  show  that  a  very  incompetent 
Republican  would  be  nominated  by  the  caucus.  So  the  Ring  set 
to  work  among  the  colored  members  and  advocated  the  election 
of  Alfred  B.  Osgood,  of  Madison  County,  colored,  who  had 
always  supported  the  Ring,  not  because  he  endorsed  their  action, 
but  because  he  feared  their  power.  The  better  informed  colored 
members  warned  Osgood  that  the  Ring  was  only  putting  him  up 
as  man  of  straw  to  be  knocked  down ;  but  he,  being  ambitous, 
heeded  not  the  warning,  and  was  nominated  for  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Republican  caucus. 
While  Osgood  was  a  good  fellow,  he  was  not  competent  to  act 
as  Speaker.  The  Ring,  however,  had  now  carried  their  point, 
and  went  to  the  Democrats  complaining,  saying  they  were  willing 
to  do  almost  anything  to  prevent  a  negro  being  elected  Speaker. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  229 

If  Osgood  had  been  better  posted  in  parliamentary  law  the 
Democrats  would  have  preferred  him  to  Martin,  and  he  would 
have  been  elected.  The  author  of  this  work  and  the  whole  dele- 
gation from  Leon  County,  while  they  were  confident  that  Osgood 
would  be  slaughtered  in  the  house  of  his  friends — as  was  intended 
when  John  R.  Scott  was  nominated  for  Speaker — supported  him 
in  good  faith,  prepared  for  the  defeat  which  awaited  him.  Both 
branches  of  the  Legislature  met  January  6th,  1874.  Before 
swearing  in  any  of  the  new  members  of  the  Assembly,  McKin- 
non.  Democrat,  made  a  motion,  which  was  carried,  that  M.  Mar- 
tin take  the  chair  in  the  temporary  organization.  This  motion 
was  voted  for  by  all  the  members  of  the  Ring  and  all  the  Demo- 
crats, which  showed  that  the  secret  work  of  the  Ring  had  been 
well  performed.  The  Assembly  then  adjourned  until  the  follow- 
ing day.  During  this  time  the  Ring  ^members  employed  their 
time  in  encouraging  the  colored  ^members  to  stand  by  Osgood 
and  they  would  elect  him  on  the  following  day,  while  at  the" 
same  time  they  were  telling  the  Democrats  thac  they  would  do 
all  they  could  to  defeat  him.  The  next  morning  the  members- 
elect  were  sworn  in  and  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  elect  its 
Speaker.  Several  ballots  were  taken  before  a  result  was  reached, 
the  most  of  the  Democrats  who  had  voted  for  Conover  for  United 
States  Senator  hesitating  at  first  to  vote  for  Martin,  and  many  of 
them  voted  for  Swearengen,  Democrat,  from  Wakulla  County, 
who  had  voted  for  Conover  for  United  States  Senator ;  and,  had 
the  anti-ring  Republicans  not  been  intimidated  by  the  freedmen 
and  feared  losing  their  influence  with  them,  Swearengen  would 
have  been  elected,  as  he  should  have  been,  to  beat  the  treacher- 
ous members  of  the  Ring.  The  colored  brother  got  wrathy  at 
the  action  of  the  carpet-baggers  in  voting  against  Osgood,  but 
this  availed  nothing,  as  the  bargain  had  been  signed  and  sealed, 
and  the  goods  must  be  delivered.  Martin  was  finally  elected. 
Bryant,  of  Polk,  and  Hardee,  of  Brevard,  would  never  consent 
to  vote  for  Martin,  and  if  the  other  Democratic  members  had 
followed  the  same  course  Martin  would  have  been  defeated,  and 
a  Democrat  elected  Speaker.  In  the  Senate  the  same  sharp 
skirmishing  relative  to  the  swearing  in  of  the  newly  elected 
members,    four   in    number,    took   place.       These    were    three 


230  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Republicans  and  one  Independent  or  Conservative  Republican, 
the  Hon.  Samuel  Spearing,  from  Duval  County,  colored,  who 
had  been  elected  by  the  assistance  of  the  most  respectable  Demo- 
crats in  the  county.  Before  the  Senators-elect  were  sworn  in  a 
resolution  was  offered  by  John  A.  Henderson  that  the  seat  of 
Sturtevant,  from  the  Twenty-first'  Senatorial  District,  be  declared 
illegally  held  by  him,  and  that  Israel  M.  Stewart  be  declared  the 
rightful  Senator.  Of  course  the  Ring  was  not  prepared  to  allow 
so  damaging  a  resolution  to  pass,  which  would  nearly  transfer 
the  Senate  into  the  hands  of  the  Democrats  before  Stearns  could 
assume  the  reins  of  government,  which  the  Ring  so  ferverently 
prayed  might  not  be  long  in  coming.  After  considerable 
wrangling  the  Senators-elect  were  sworn  in  and  the  Senate  organ- 
ized, with  a  full  set  of  Republican  officers.  On  the  9th  of  Janu- 
ary Governor  Hart  addressed  his  message  to  both  branches  of 
the  Legislature,  in  which  he  said : 

''It  is  also  very  gratifying  to  know  that  the  spirit  of  political 
hatred  and  bitterness,  which  was  the  fruit  of  that  great  rebellion, 
is  well  nigh  extinguished,  and  the  people  of  all  parties  are  more 
united  and  harmonized  than  they  have  been  for  many  years. 
Indeed,  an  era  of  good  feeling  and  political  toleration  seems  to 
have  dawned  throughout  the  State.  Political  antagonisms  still 
exist,  but  that  peculiar  acerbity  and  rankling  animosity  that  once 
characterized  political  opposition,  has  given  place  to  the  ordinary 
antagonisms  that  are  legitimate  and  founded  upon  reasonable 
differences  of  opinions. 

"  That  spirit  of  lawlessness  which  at  one  time  threatened  the 
peace  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  which  broke  out  in  disgraceful 
outrages,  disturbing  the  peace  of  society,  and  throwing  some 
counties  into  a  state  of  violent  agitation,  has,  under  the  man- 
agement of  prudent  and  determined  local  officers,  subsided,  and 
is  now  obedient  to  the  "wholesome  restraints  of  the  law. 

''From  my  standpoint  of  observation  as  Chief  Executive, 
viewing  as  I  do  our  past  political  history,  the  present  condition 
of  the  State  and  reasonable  expectations  that  the  immediate 
future  holds  out,  I  have  strong  reasons  for  entertaining  the  hope 
that  our  beloved  State  has  passed  through  the  severest  fires  of 
its  affliction,  and  that  henceforth,  by  the  united  will  and  pur- 
pose of  our  whole  people,  peace  and  good  government  will  be 
secured,  and  the  people  become  prosperous  and  happy.  I  have 
reasonable  assurances  for  this  hope,  in  the  fact  that  all  political 
parties   seem   united  to   this  end.     God  has  given  to  us  a  goodly 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  23  I 

heritage.  The  bright  skies,  balmy  and  heahhful  atmosphere, 
and  genial  and  fruitful  soil  of  Florida  is  now  largely  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  people  of  the  North.  A  good  government, 
with  wise  and  wholesome  laws  and  a  quiet  and  industrious  and 
law-abiding  citizenship  is  all  that  is  required  to  make  Florida,  at 
no  distant  day,  a  prosperous  and  happy  Commonwealth. 

"The  condition  of  my  health  has  been  such  that  my 
physicians  thought  it  advisable  for  me  to  spend  the  summer 
North.  During  my  absence  from  the  State  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  constitutionally  became  the  acting  Governor,  and  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  in  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  govern- 
men  the  has  proven  that  the  confidence  placed  in  him  by  the  people 
at  the  last  general  election  was  not  misplaced. 

FINANCIAL. 


"Your  wise  financial  policy  for  reaching  a  condition  of 
cash  payments  established  at  the  last  session  by  the  new  law  for 
the  collection  of  the  revenue  and  the  act  known  as  the  Funding 
Bill  started  well  and  is  progressing  hopefully.  We  have 
encountered  many  difficulties  in  obtaining  assessors  who  will 
diligently  assess  all  the  taxable  property,  and  collectors  of  reve- 
nue who  will  faithfully  collect  and  pay  over  but,  have  generally 
succeeded  in  obtainuig  better  men  to  hold  those  offices  than 
many  who  have  heretofore  held  them,  and  now  under  the  wise 
provisions  of  your  new  tax  law  the  revenew  is  bemg  better  assess- 
ed, collected  and  paid  in  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  our 
State.  This  fact,  working  together  hand  in  hand  with  an  earnest 
economy  everywhere  urged  and  practiced  by  the  Comptroller, 
and  infact  by  every  department  of  the  administration,  has 
already  lessened  the  volum  of  scrip  afloat  and  issuing  every  day, 
and  eased  the  treasurer  some  in  regard  to  expenses  that  must  be 
paid  in  cash.  Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  funding  law  we 
obtained  the  implied  promise  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Agricultural  College  Fund  to  invest  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of 
their  scrip  with  the  Comptroller  for  new  bonds,  in 
order  that  the  treasury  of  the  State  might  have  the 
benefit  of  that  much  cash  to  help  along  the  benificent  policy  of 
the  funding  law.  The  first  effect  of  this  promise  was  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  price  of  scrip  and  of  the  credit  of  the 
State  to  a  noticeable  extent.  While  under  said  law  the  Comp- 
troller was  diligently  at  work  disposing  of  bonds,  and  with  the 
proceeds  redeeming  old  bonds  that  had  been  hypothecated  in 
New  York,  the  said  promise  was  frequently,  with  apparent 
hearty  ceherfulness,  creating  the  most  perjfect  confidence, 
renewed  by  the  said  board  through  its  treasurer,  when   at  the 


232  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

moment  of  highest  expectation  of  fulfillment  and  immediate  relief 
of  the  credit  and  finances  of  the  State,  it  turned  out  to  our  aston- 
ishment and  consternation  that  the  said  board  was  deceiving  us 
all  the  while,  and  had  invested  their  money  in  bonds  which  the 
Comptroller  had  sold  in  New  York  while  redeeming  said 
hypothecated  bonds,  thus  leaving  the  money  in  New  York 
instead  of  bringing  it  to  Florida.  This  great  dissapointment 
gave  a  check  to  the  progress  of  our  good  work,  and  the  viola- 
tion of  the  promise  has  otherwise  wrought  mischief  to  the  State. 
But  this  unwise  act  of  the  said  board  towards  Florida  cannot 
efiect  the  real  value  of  our  new  bonds.  They  are  and  will 
necessarily  remain  among  the  best  of  securities,  and  as  soon  as 
the  late  universal  business  panic  shall  have  subsdied  we  may 
confidently  expect  them  to  find  sale  at  the  price  fixed,  and  the 
policy  of  the  funding  law  to  be  in  a  reasonable  time  a  fair 
triumph  for  Florida.  I  hold  the  board  responsible  because  of 
its  emphatic  endorsment  of  the  action  of  its  treasurer.  The 
only  excuse  that  I  have  herd  is  that  in  June  the  treasurer  of 
the  board  saw  a  contract  made  by  the  Governor  and  Comp- 
troller giving  the  entire  control  of  all  these  bonds  to  the 
New  York  man.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  investment 
with  him  was  virtually  made  before  said  treasurer  saw  the  con- 
tract to  which  he  refers.  That  contract  will  be  found  in  the 
report  of  the  Comptroller,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  no  reasonable 
and  fair  construction  can  torture  it  into  such  a  meaning.  The 
Comptroller  was  in  frequent,  almost  daily,  communication  with 
said  treasurer,  urging  the  performance  of  said  promise,  and  was 
as  often  assured  that  it  would  soon  be  done,  that  there  was 
some  difficulty  in  obtaining  said  proceeds  from  the  purchasers 
of  said  scrip,  but  that  it  would  soon  be  done  all  right.  The 
said  treasurer  well  knew  that  all  of  said  bonds  that  had  not  been 
disposed  of  in  New  York  were  in  the  Comptroller's  possession, 
in  Tallahassee.  I  cannot  imagine  any  good  reason  why  we 
should  thus  have  been  deceived  and  said  money  left  in  New 
York  instead  of  being  brought  to  Florida,  and  I  recommend 
an  investigation  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  what  was  the 
inducement,  provided  it  can  be  done  without  expense  to  the 
treasury." 

During  this  year  arose  a  difficulty  between  Governor  Hart 
and  Attorney-General  Cocke,  growing  out  of  the  very  trouble- 
some Vose  claim  against  the  State,  which  led  to  the  Governor's 
asking  Cocke  to  resign.  The  following  extracts  from  the  mes- 
sage give  the  Governor's  version  of  the  case  and  the  Attorney- 
Genral's  reply  to  the  request  to  resign. 

"It  may  be  seen  that  the  suit  brought  in  the  United  States 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  233 

Circuit  Court  by  F.  Vose  against  the  Board  of  Truestees  of  the 
Internal  Improvement  Fund,  holding  all  the  swamp  and  overflowed 
lands  in  trust  for  the  purposes  of  the  Internal  Improvement 
act  of  1855,  was  not  defended  by  the  former  board,  but  was 
wholly  neglected  and  allowed  to  go  to  decree//-^  confcsso  against 
that  board  and  to  subsequent  interlocutory  decrees,  without 
any  attempt  to  set  before  the  court  the  equities  of  the  board 
and  of  the  State  therein.  That  the  present  board  has  deplored 
that  neglect  and  intended  to  make  every  effort  possible  in  order 
to  get  these  defenses  set  forth  before  the  court;  that  it  employed 
the  Attorney-General,  himself  a  member  of  the  board,  as  its 
attorney  to  accomplish  it  if  possible,  fully  believing  that  if  the 
court  could  be  informed  of  the  purposes  and  efforts  and  acts  of 
this  board,  the  court  would  not  interpose  to  hinder  it  in  any 
way.  At  the  last  term  of  said  court,  and  after  the  Circuit  Judge 
who  rendered  the  decree  had  left  Florida,  this  board  (the 
Attorney-General  being  absent  at  Jacksonville,  in  attendance  on 
said  court  on  said  case)  learned  with  astonishment  and  conster- 
nation that  a  consent  decree  had  been  rendered,  placing  the 
board  in  the  humiliating  condition  of  virtually  admitting  openly 
in  court  on  the  records  thereof  all  the  allegations  and  charges 
made  in  the  plaintiff's  bill  of  complaint,  and  thereby  admitting 
its  own  total  incompetency  and  unfitness  for  administering  the 
said  trusts  as  required  by  law,  and  that  the  court  ought  to  appoint 
and  authorize  other  persons  to  do  so  in  its  stead.  I  have  not 
yet  been  able  to  learn  that  any  attempt  was  made  by  said  attor- 
ney to  have  said  decree  pro  confesso  opened  or  to  file  any  answer 
setting  forth  said  defenses  before  said  court.  The  board  have  con- 
sequently settled  w^ith  its  said  attorney  to  employ  another  to  still 
make  now  the  almost  hopeless  effort  to  get  all  of  said  interlocutory 
decrees  opened  so  that  said  defenses  can  be  filed  and  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  court.  For  this,  and  for  reasons  arising  from 
our  railroad  complications,  as  I  have  elsewhere  stated  them,  of 
course  the  Attorney-General  must  see  the  great  embarrassment 
of  his  remaining  in  the  Cabinet,  and  a  quiet  suggestion  of  my 
desire  for  his  resignation  was  made  to  him  by  me  personally 
without  going  into  any  statements  or  discussion  of  the  reasons. 
He  suggested  me  to  address  him  a  letter  and  he  would  answer 
it.  I  then  wrote  my  request,  and  he  declined  on  the  ground 
that  I  had  not  assigned  my  reasons. 

"I  sent  him  the  following  letter,  viz.: 

"Executive  Office,  ) 

''Tallahassee,   Fla.,  January  2,  1874.  ] 
'■^  Hon.    William  Archer  Cocke,  Attorney- General  of  Florida,  Talla- 
hassee, Fla.: 
''Dear  Sir — Your  answer  of  yesterday  declining  to  resign 


234  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

because  I  had  assigned  no  reasons  for  my  request,  is  at  hand.  I 
regret  this  because  I  did  not  expect  it  of  you,  even  if  there  had 
been  nothing  special  between  us  on  the  subject.  If  I  remember 
rightly,  from  the  first  you  voluntarily  informed  me,  quite  as  a 
matter  of  course,  that  if  at  any  time  I  should  desire  a  change 
a  very  slight  mention  of  it  would  produce  your  resignation 
promptly.  Your  course  of  non-action  in  the  Anderson  case, 
after  fully  understanding  the  course  which  the  administration 
thought  it  best  to  pursue,  and,  though  expressing  your  difference 
of  opinion  on  one  point  only,  yet  promising  official  co-opera- 
tion, and  a  reasonable  certainty  of  success  in  getting  the  decree 
pro  confesso  against  us  opened  so  as  to  let  in  the  defenses  of  the 
State;  and  the  effects  and  consequences  of  that  course  to  the 
■State;  your  letter  read  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  your  letter  in  the  newspaper  implying  a  charge  agains, 
the  administration,  and  your  consent  decree  in  the  Vose  caset 
furnish  me  with  my  reasons  for  desiring  your  resignation. 

When  you  think  calmly  for  a  moment  upon  these  things, 
and  upon  the  subsequent  action  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Internal  Improvement  Fund  on  the  subject  of  said  consent 
decree,  and  of  its  attorney,  which  action  you  have  reason  to 
know  that  I  a])]3rove,  you  cannot  help  but  see  that  you  have 
placed  yourself  in  antagonism,  and  that  you  and  the  administra- 
tion cannot  any  longer  work  together  in  confidence  and  har- 
mony, which  the  public  interests  so  much  require. 

' '  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

''OSSIAN  B.  HART, 

' '  Governor  of  Florida. 

"In  answer  to  which  letter  I  have  received  the  following 
reply,  viz.: 

"  Attornev-General's  Of.fice,  \ 

''Tallahassee,    Fla.,  January  2,    1874.) 

"  To  His  Excellency^  O.  B.  Hart^  Governor  State  of  Florida: 

"Sir — Your  letter  of  this  date  is  received.  I  consider  that 
in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties  I  have  followed  the  law  and 
my  solemn  conviction  of  right.  I  hope  to  act  in  harmony  with 
the  administration,  but  as  the  Attorney-General  of  the  State  I 
must  pursue  such  course  as  the  law  indicates  and  I  conceive  for 
the  best  interests  of  the  State.  The  reasons  assigned  by  you  not 
being  sufficient,  I  therefore  respectfully  refuse  to  resign  the  office 
of  Attorney-General. 

"Most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM  ARCHER  COCKE, 
"  Attorney-Cieneral  of  the  State  of  Florida. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA.  235 

"It  may  be  seen  that  the  "Cabinet  of  administrative 
officers,"  who,  the  Constitution  provides,  shall  aid  the  Governor, 
is  required,  by  this  refusal,  to  endure  the  presence  in  it  of  an 
Attorney- General  in  whose  abilities  as  a  lawyer,  and  diligence 
in  attending  to  his  important  duties  in  the  courts,  the  Governor 
has  lost  all  confidence.  Believing  that  the  interests  of  the 
State  require  it,  I  recommend  action  by  the  Legislature  in  the 
matter." 

At  this  time  the  holders  of  certain  bonds  of  the  State  issued 
in  aid  ofthe  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  &  Mobile  Railroad,  known 
as  the  Dutch  Bondholders,  through  their  attorneys  made  the  fol- 
lowing protest,  which  was  laid  before  the  Legislature  by  the 
Governor : 

To  the  Gove?'nor  of  ilie  State  of  Florida  : 

The  undersigned  respectfully  represents  that  he  is  the  duly 
authorized  agent  in  this  country  of  Geo.  M.  Boisevain,  Joseph 
Zadacks,  Adrian  Stoop,  Adrian  J.  Milders,  N.  J.  deu  Tex  and 
many  other  persons  residing  in  the  Kingdom  of  Holland  aaid 
elsewhere,  bona  fide  purchasers  and  holders  to  a  very  large 
amount,  to- wit :  to  the  amount  of  more  than  three  million 
dollars  of  the  bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida,  issued  by  the  said 
State  in  aid  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  &  Mobile  Railroad 
Company,  and  bearing  date  the  first  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1870, 
payable  on  the  first  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1900,  and  which 
bonds  were  issued  by  the  said  State  under  and  in  pursuance  of 
an  act  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  passed  June  24,  1869,  and  the 
several  amendments  thereto,  in  which  act  and  amendments  it 
was  and  is  among  other  things,  provided,  and  in  exchange  for 
the  bonds  so  issued  by  the  said  State,  the  company  should  exe- 
cute and  deliver  to  the  said  State  its  own  first  mortgage  bonds, 
embracing  all  and  singular  its  railroad  property  and  appur- 
tenances, and  which  latter  bonds  were  so  issued  and  delivered  to 
the  State,  in  compliance  with  the  laws  aforesaid,  and  are  now 
held  by  the  State  as  a  trustee  for  the  benefit  of  the  purchasers 
of  the  said  State  bonds  as  a  further  security  of  the  same.  The 
undersigned  further  represents  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  State 
of  Florida  to  defend  and  protect  the  Hen  of  the  bonds  of  the 
said  Railroad  Company  so  issued  as  aforesaid,  for  the*  benefit  of 
all  concerned  in  the  preservation  of  such  lien,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose through  its  agents  and  officers  to  exercise  all  due  diligence 
to  prevent  the  success  of  any  and  all  attempts  to  impair  the  said 
iien  by  legal  proceedings  or  otherwise. 

The  undersigned  further  represents  that  there  is  now  pend- 


236  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

ing  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  of  the  Fifth  Cir- 
cuit and  Northern  District  of  the  State  of  Florida,  an  action,  in 
which  Edward  C,  Anderson,  Jr.,  and  others  are  plaintiffs,  and 
the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  Company  and 
others  are  defendants,  in  which  action  the  bill  of  complaint  was 
filed  on  or  about  the  24th  day  of  July,  1872,  and  which  action 
has  for  its  object  the  foreclosure  of  a  pretended  mortgage  lien 
upon  those  parts  of  the  line  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and 
Mobile  Railroad  Company  heretofore  known  as  the  Pensacola 
and  Georgia  Railroad  and  the  Tallahassee  Railroad.  The  under- 
signed further  represents  that  the  State  of  Florida,  through  its 
Governor,  Attorney-General,  and  proper  officers,  had  due  notice 
to  appear  and  defend  the  said  suit,  and  were  requested  to  do  so 
on  behalf  of  the  bondholders,  whom  the  undersigned  now  repre- 
sents, but  refused  to  appear  or  take  any  action  in  the  same,  and 
wholly  and  entirely  neglected  their  duty  in  the  premises,  and 
permitted  a  judgment  and  decree  to  be  taken  by  default  in  favor 
of  the  plaintiffs  in  the  said  action,  notwithstanding  the  fact, 
which  the  plaintiff  is  informed  and  believes  to  be  true,  th^t  the 
pretended  mortgage  lien,  asserted  by  the  plaintiffs  in  the  said 
action,  had  and  have  no  existence  whatever.  It  has  been  con- 
stantly represented  on  behalf  of  the  said  State  by  its  officers, 
including  the  Governor,  that  the  bonds  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pen- 
sacola and  Mobile  Railroad  Company  delivered  to  the  State  were 
a  first  lien  upon  the  entire  line  of  the  said  Company,  and  that 
fact  has  been  so  declared  in  the  opinion  of  lawyers  of  the  State 
of  Florida,  from  time  to  time  consulted  on  that  subject,  and  es 
the  undersigned  believes  in  a  judicial  decision  of  the  highest 
court  of  that  State,  and  the  bondholders,  whom  the  undersigned 
represents,  purchased  the  bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida  upon 
the  faith  of  such  representations  and  such  opinions.  The  under- 
signed is  informed  that  in  and  by  the  decree  in  the  cause  referred 
to,  it  is  directed  that  that  part  of  the  line  of  road  referred  to 
shall  be  sold  on  the  fifth  day  of  January  proximo. 

The  undersigned,  on  behalf  and  by  the  direction  of  the 
purchasers  and  holders  of  the  State  bonds  referred  to,  and 
whom  he  represents  as  hereinbefore  stated,  hereby  protests 
against  the  action  of  the  State  of  Florida  in  the  premises  as  wanting 
in  good  faith  to  the  bona  fide  purchasers  of  its  bonds.  And  fur- 
ther protests  against  the  said  judicial  decree  and  the  action  of  the 
State  of  Florida  in  permitting  the  same  to  be  rendered ;  and  par- 
ticularly protests  against  the  proposed  sale  of  the  said  Railroad, 
or  any  part  thereof  thereunder ;  and  against  any  and  all  pro- 
ceedings taken,  or  to  be  taken,  in  the  said  cause,  as  against  good 
faith,  contrary  to  law  and  of  no  validity  against  the  bondholders, 
on  whose  behalf  this  protest  is  made,  and  on  whose  behalf  such 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

proceedings  will  hereafter  be  taken  in  the  premises  as  they  may- 
be advised  are  necessary  for  the  full  protection  of  their  rights. 

The  undersigned  further  protests,  in  the  names,  and  on 
behalf  of  the  said  holders  of  the  said  bonds  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  against  the  failure  of  the  State  of  Florida  to  pay  the 
interest  thereon  at  maturity,  according  to  the  tenor  of  its  obliga- 
tions, as  an  act  of  bad  faith  not  only  unjust  to  the  said  bond- 
holders, but  unlawful  in  itself,  and  an  act  of  repudiation  destruc- 
tive to  the  credit  of  the  State  of  Florida,  rendering  her  promises 
and  obligations  worthless  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 

The  undersigned,  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  said  hold- 
ers of  the  bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida,  demands  that  the  State  of 
Florida  shall,  with  all  due  diligence,  take  whatever  steps  may 
be  necessary  to  prevent  the  sale  of  any  part  of  the  line  of  the 
said  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  under  the 
said  decree,  or  under  any  other  proceeding  of  whatsoever  kind, 
which  can  in  any  way  impair  or  affect  the  lien  of  the  bonds  of 
the  said  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  as  a  first 
and  prior  lien  now  held  by  the  State  as  aforesaid  for  the  security 
of  its  obligations  to  the  State  and  through  the  State  as  a  Trustee 
for  the  security  of  the  holders  and  purchasers  of  the  State  bonds. 
The  undersigned,  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  said  holders 
of  the  bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida,  also  demands  that  the 
State  of  Florida  shall  make  provision  for  the  prompt  payment  of 
the  outstanding  and  over-due  coupons  of  its  bonds,  hereinbefore 
referred  to,  and  give  due  and  public  notice  of  the  time  and 
place  of  such  payment,  in  order  that  such  coupons  may  be  duly 
presented  at  the  time  and  place  designated  for  payment. 

(Signed)  Robert  H.  Hardaway, 

Attorney  for  M.  K.  Jesup  &  Company,  of  the  City  and  State  of 

New  York,  who  are  lawful  Attorneys  for  George  M.  Bocse- 

vain,  Joseph  Zadack,  Adrian  Stoop,  Adrian  J,  Milders,  and 

N.  J.  deu  Tex. 

Witness — Edward  M.  West, 

Justice  of  the  Peace. 

This  protest,  while  looking  plausible  on  paper,  was  con- 
ceived in  sin  and  born  in  iniquity.  The  Democratic  papers 
throughout  the  State  were  denouncing  the  action  of  the  Acting 
Governor  Stearns  is  employing,  without  authority  of  law,  counsel 
to  bring  suit  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  to  saddle  the 
four  million  fraudulent  Littlefield  bonds  upon  the  people  of  Flor- 
ida, and  he,  fearing  an  anti-administration  Legislature,  instigated 
this  protest  to  cover  his  foot-prints.     It  will  be  seen  by  the  mes- 


238  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

sage  of  Governor  Hart,  Assembly  Journal  of  1874,  p.  29,  that 
the  suit  was  commenced  in  the  summer  of  1873,  ^^^^  ^^"'g  Pro- 
test of  the  bondholders  was  not  filed  until  the  29th  of  December 
of  that  year.  The  administration  afterwards  furnished  another 
glaring  bit  of  testimony  showing  the  utter  insincerity  of  its 
action.  D.  P.  Holland,  who  claimed  that  he  had  bought  the 
Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad,  by  virtue  of  an 
execution  issued  out  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court, 
Northern  District  of  Florida,  and  held  a  deed  thereunder,  was 
importuned  by  the  members  of  the  Ring  to  offer  to  sell  his  interest 
to  the  State,  which  he  acceded  to.  The  condition  on  which  he 
offered  to  sell  the  road  to  the  State  and  put  it  in  possession  was 
that  there  should  be  ])aid  to  him  sixty-two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  thirty-three  dollars,  together  with  costs  and  interest,  the 
State  assuming  the  amount  then  due  on  account  of  the  operatmg 
expenses  and  repaying  the  sums  of  cash  that  he  had  borrowed 
to  improve  the  property,  and  he  to  take  his  pay  in  the  six  per 
cent,  bonds  of  the  State  at  the  price  fixed  by  law.  This  propo- 
sition was  equally  acceptable  to  the  ring,  and  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced in  the  Legislature  to  carry  the  i:)roposition  into  effect* 
The  Ring  now  called  a  Republican  caucus,  and  James  Johnson, 
carpet-bagger,  and  M.  L.  Stearns,  Lieutenant-Governor,  ap- 
peared before  it  in  advocacy  of  the  passage  of  the  bill  as  a 
strictly  party  measure.  They  said  in  their  speeches  before  the 
caucus  that  if  this  measure  was  passed,  "Old  Dyke"  and  the 
Democratic  party  would  be  utterly  outgeneraled  and  as  mad  the 
"fretful  porcupine."  Attorney-General  Cocke  had  explained 
this  scheme  to  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  who  did  not 
understand  it  before,  and  the  colored  members  from  the  counties 
of  Leon  and  Alachua,  with  the  assistance  of  part  of  the  delega- 
tion from  Duval,  had  an  understanding  with  the  whites  to  defeat 
the  measure.  The  Leon  and  Alachua  delegations  and  honest 
Dan  Mclnnis  from  Duval  County,  gave  the  ring  to  understand 
that  they  would  vote  for  the  bill,  though  they  did  not  tell  them 
so.  These  delegations  made  no  resistance  in  the  caucus,  there- 
fore the  Ring  thought  they  were  all  right.  Attorney-General 
Cocke  prepared  some  telling  points  and  placed  them  in  the 
hands  of  some  of  the  colored  members  to  be  used  in  the  attack. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  239 

The  bill  was  called  up,  and  the  Ring  was  happy  in  the  assurance 
that  they  would  hear  no  opposition  from  any  of  the  Republican 
members,  while  some  of  the  Democrats,  who  did  not  know  that 
enough  colored    men  had  been  secured  to  defeat  the  bill,  had 
blood   in  their  eyes  and  were  howling   "fraud,  fraud,  fraud!" 
The  author  of  this  work  led  the  fight,   which  took  the  ring  by 
surprise.       Hon.    H.    H.    Mitchell,   of    Hillsborough    County, 
Democrat,     followed;     the    members     from    Alachua,     Gass, 
and  Washington,  colored,    followed,    and   Dan   Mclnnis,  from 
Duval  County,  brought  up  the  rear.     The  fraud  was  so  glaring 
that  before  the  discussion  ended  the  most  of  the  carpet-baggers 
left  the  hall  and  did  not  dare  to  vote  for  the  measure,  and  it  was 
defeated  by  a  large  majority.     The  bill  as  defeated  in  the  Assem- 
bly, was  to  pay  Holland  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  State 
bonds  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  it  was  generally  believed 
that  the  bonds  were  to  be  divided  among  the  getters-up  of  the 
scheme.     The  colored  members  were  jubilant  over  the  defeat  of 
this  measure  because  they  thought  they  had  got  partially  square 
with  the  carpet-baggers  for  their  treachery  to  Osgood,  and  the 
carpet-baggers  were  given  to  understand  that  bolting  the  solemn 
action  of  caucuses  was  a  game  they  could  play  too. 

The  Ring,  at  the  beginning  of  their  ravages  in  the  State,had 
secured  the  passage  of  a  law  which  had  worked  great  injury  and 
inconvenience   to  the   people   all  over   the  State,  that  all  legal 
advertisements  should  be  made  in  papers  designated  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  State.     This  law  was  enacted   to    support   carpetbag 
papers,  which  were  so  unj^opular  in  the  communities  in  which 
they  existed  that  they  could   not  sustain  themselves.     The  peo- 
ple were  compelled  to  advertise  in  them,  and  there  was  no  limit 
designated  by  law  as  to  their  charges,  and  enormous  prices  were 
charged  for  such  advertisements,  which  the  people  had  to  pay. 
The  Democratic  press  had,  from  the  beginning,  denounced  this 
law,  and  continued  their  denunciation  from   year  to  year  unti 
the   anti-ring    Republicans  acknowledged  the  justness  of  their 
cause.     At  the  session  1873  ^^^^  ^^""^^  """^^^  repealed  by  the  united 
action  of  the  anti-ring  Republicans  and  the  Democrats  and  was 
signed  by  the  presiding  officers  of  the  respective  houses,  but  was 
stolen  either  before  or  after  it  reached  the  Governor.     This  was 


240  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

not  the  only  statute  that  was  stolen  at  this  and  previous  sessions, 
as  statute  stealing  had  become  an  active  industry  among  the  car- 
petbag statesmen.  The  following  is  the  resolution  passed  in  ref- 
erence to  this  statute  and  the  appointment  and  report  of  a  com- 
mittee thereunder  : 

Whereas,  That  the  last  regular  session  of  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  repealing  the  legal  advertising  act ;  and  whereas, 
said  act  or  bill  was  stolen  by  some  unknow-n  party  or  parties ; 
thefore 

^'Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  elected  by  this 
Assembly  to  find  out  the  party  or  parties  who  stole  said  bill,  and 
said  committee  shall  have  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers, 
and  that  this  committee  endeavor  to  find  all  bills  which  were  lost 
or  misplaced  last  session." 

Messrs.  Wallace,  Swearingen  and  Mclnnis  were  elected 
said  committee,  who  made  the  following  report : 

"That  inasmuch  as  statute  stealing  has  come  to  be  some- 
what systematized  in  Florida,  the  committee  made  a  most 
patient  and  persistent  effort  to  uncover  the  thief  in  question. 
The  testimony  in  the  case  is  not  sufficient,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
committee,  to  convict  the  thief.  The  chief  clerk  of  the  Assem- 
bly, however,  testified  most  unqualifiedly  that  he  delivered  the 
bill  to  the  then  private  secretary  of  the  Governor,  but  the  Gov- 
ernor's secretary  testifies  with  equal  clearness  that  he  did  not 
receive  it;  and  with  this  discrepent  testimony  the  committee 
would  respectfully  submit  the  case  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Assembly." 

During  this  year  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama to  acquire  that  portion  of  the  territory  of  Florida  lying 
west  of  the  Apalachicola  River,  and  sent  three  commsssioners 
to  Tallahassee  to  conduct  the  negotiations  to  that  end  on  behalf 
of  that  State.  The  following  resolutions  and  reports  give  a  full 
hisrory  of  this  affair  : 

ANNEXATION    OF    WEST    FLORIDA. 

To  THE  Hon.  M.  Martin, 

Speaker  of  the  'Assembly  : 
Whereas,   We  the   undersigned,    were  appointed   a   Joint 
Committee  on  the  part  of  the   Senate  and  Assembly  to   consult 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  241 

with  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  State  of  Alabama,  in 
relation  to  the  Annexation  of  West  Florida  to  Alabama,  find, 
upon  investigation,  that  a  former  Commission  was  appointed  by 
that  State  for  the  same  purpose,  and  that  upon  representations 
made  by  them,  the  following  Joint  Resolution  was  passed  by  the 
Legislature  of  this  State,  and  approved  by  the  Governor  on  the 
24th  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1869,  to-wit : 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  relative  to  the  Alabama  Commissioners. 

Whereas,  The  State  of  Alabama  has  appointed  a  Commission 
to  visit  the  State  of  Florida  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
the  annexation  of  all  that  portion  of  Florida  lying  west  of 
the  Apalachicola  River;  And,  Whereas,  It  is  the  desire 
to  promote  the  best  interest  of  all  the  people  of  our  State ; 
therefore,  be  it 

Resohed,  That  the  Governor  of  the  State  be  and  he  is  here- 
by authorized  and  directed  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to 
confer  with  the  Commission  appointed  by  the  State  of  Alabama ; 
and  the  said  Commission  are  authorized  to  go  to  Montgomery 
and  there  confer  with  the  Commission  and  authorities  of  the 
State  of  Alabama ;  and  the  said  committee  are  appointed  the 
duly  accredited  agents  of  this  State'  to  negotiate  for  the  said 
transfer  ;  and  they  shall  report  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature by  bill  or  otherwise. 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  between  this  time  and  the  time 
of  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  the  Governor  shall  issue 
his  proclamation  for  an  election  in  the  district  proposed  to  be 
annexed,  to  be  held  and  conducted  in  the  manner  of  a  special 
election  as  prescribed  by  law  ;  and  at  such  election  the  qualified 
eiectors  in  said  district  shall  vote  for  annexation  or  against 
annexation. 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  prior  to  the  aforesaid  election 
the  Commissions  appointed  by  the  respective  States  shall  agree 
upon  the  terms  and  conditions  of  transfer ;  and  in  the  proclama- 
tion of  election  the  aforesaid  terms  and  conditions  shall  be  set 
forth  for  the  information  of  the  electors ;  and  in  making  returns 
of  the  election  in  the  county  of  Holmes,  the  returns  of 
votes  on  the  east  and  west  side  of  the  Choctawhatchie  river 
shall  be  kept  separate  and  apart,  in  order  to  get  a  cor- 
rect expression  of  the  people  on  the  east  and  west  side  of  that 
river. 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  aforesaid  election  shall  not  be 
final  or  binding  until  the  Legislature  or  people  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  shall  consent 
to  the  transfer  of  said  territory. 
Approved  January  27, 1869. 
16 


242  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

In  conformity  with  said  Joint  Resolution,  the  Governor  of 
the  vState  of  Florida  appointed  a  Commission  consisting  of  the 
Hon.  W.  J.  Purman,  Charles  E.  Dyke  and  N.  H.  Moragne, 
who  visited  Montgomery  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of 
that  resolution,  and  they  entered  into  an  agreement  and  stipula- 
tion with  the  duly  constituted  authorities  of  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama, a  copy  of  which  is  hereunto  attached,  and  reported  their 
doings  to  the  then  Governor  of  Florida.  The  Governor  then, 
in  acjordance  with  the  said  Joint  Resolution,  issued  his  procla- 
mation for  an  election  in  West  Florida,  and  a  majority  of  the 
votes  cast  at  that  election  were  in  favor  of  the  annexation  of 
West  Florida  to  Alabama,  and  it  is  quite  evident  to  your  Com- 
mittee that  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  West  Florida  are 
still  in  favor  of  annexation.  The  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Florida  in  his  next  annual  message  after  the  election  presented 
to  the  Legislature  the  report  and  doings  of  the  Commission ; 
since  that  time  there  has  been  no  further  legislation  upon  the 
part  of  Florida  in  relation  to  that  matter. 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Alabama  passed  an  act 
which  was  approved  by  the  Governor  of  that  State  on  the  27  th 
day  of  March,  A.  D.  1873,  ^  ^^VY  ^^  which  is  hereunto 
annexed,  and  in  accordancts  with  the  provisions  of  said  act,  the 
Governor  of  Alabama  has  appointed  the  Hons.  R.  W.  Cobb,  J. 
C.  Goodloe  and  ex-Governor  Parsons,  to  confer  with  the  proper 
authorities  of  the  State  of  Florida,  with  full  power  to  carry  out 
the  provisions  of  that  act.  These  gentlemen  are  now  in  the 
city.  In  view  of  these  facts,  your  committee  are  of  the  opinion 
that  the  matter  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  some 
decided  action  upon  the  part  of  this  Legislature.  We  therefore 
recommend  the  passage  of  the  following  concurrent  resolution : 
Resolved,  That  the  Hons.  R.  W.  Cobb,  J.  C.  Goodloe  and 
ex-Governor  Parsons,  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor 
of  Alabama  to  confer  with  the  properly  constituted  authorities 
of  the  State  of  Florida  in  relation  to  the  cession  of  West  Florida 
to  Alabama,  be  invited  to  address  the  Senate  and  Assembly  in 
joint  convention  in  the  Assembly  Hall  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.  on 
Tuesday  the  27th  inst. 

A.  L.  McCASKILL, 
L.  G.  DENNIS, 

Senate  Committee. 
JNO.  L.   McKINNON, 
J.  W.  MENARD, 
W.  H.  GLEASON, 

Assembly  Committee. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  243 

AN  ACT  to  provide  for  the  annexation  of  West  Florida  to  the 
State  of  Alabama  with  the  assent  of  the  State  of  Florida 
and  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Section  i.  Be  it  eiiacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Ala- 
bama, That  the  sum  of  one  million  dollars  in  coupon  bonds  of 
the  State  of  Alabama,  of  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars 
each,  payable  in  thirty  years  after  the  date  thereof,  bearing  eight 
per  cent,  interest  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually  at  the  office 
of  the  State  Treasurer  in  the  city  of  Montgomery,  be  and  the 
same  is  hereby  appropriated  and  is  to  be  paid  to  the  lawfully 
constituted  authorities  of  the  State  of  Florida  as  a  considera- 
tion and  compensation  to  said  State  for  the  cession  by  said  State 
to  the  State  oi  Alabama,  of  all  the  soil  and  jurisdiciion  now  held 
by  the  State  of  Florida  into  and  over  that  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  State  of  Florida  lying  and  being  west  of  the  thread 
of  the  Chattahoochee  and  Apalachicola  Rivers,  and  west  of  a 
line  running  due  south  from  the  thread  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Apalachicola,  bending  west  so  as  to  pass  between  the  Islands  of 
St.  George  and  St.  Vincent,  known  and  called  West  Florida , 
including  the  lands  belonging  to  and  heretofore  owned  by  the 
State  of  Florida,  within  the  district  of  country  above  described, 
whether  of  seminary,  school,  sixteenth  sections,  internal 
improvement,  swamp  and  overflowed,  together  with  the  five 
per  cent,  arising  from  the  sales  of  the  United  States  land,  lying 
west  of  the  rivers  above  mentioned,  accruing  after  the  cession  of 
said  territory,  and  guaranteeing  to  the  State  of  Alabama  full  and 
complete  title  thereto,  with  indemnity  for  all  loss  the  State  of 
Alabama  may  sustain  growing  out  of  any  adverse  claim  or  claims 
which  may  be  set  up  thereto,  provided  that  this  sum  shall  be 
paid  by  this  State  and  accepted  by  the  State  of  Florida  in  full 
satisfaction  of  the  share  or  proportion  falling  to  West  Florida  of 
the  public  debt  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama shall  in  no  wise  nor  to  any  extent  be  responsible  for  any 
portion  of  said  public  debt  of  the  State  of  Florida  by  reason  of 
said  purchase. 

Section  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Governor  be  and 
he  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  appoint  three  com- 
missioners on  behalf  of  the  State  of  Alabama  to  tender  to  the 
lawful  authorities  of  the  State  of  Florida  the  aforesaid  bonds  of 
this  State  in  consideration  of  the  cession  aforesaid,  and  that  the 
said  commissioners  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  em- 
powered on  behalf  of  this  State  to  make  the  tender  aforesaid, 
and  to  do  and  perform  all  the  acts  and  things  which  may  be 
requisite  and  necessary  to  perfect  and  consummate  the  cession 
of  the  territory  aforesaid  by  the  State  of  Florida   to  the  State  of 


244  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Alabama,  and  the  delivery  by  the  State  of  Alabama  to  the  State 
of  Florida  of  the  bonds  aforesaid  in  compensation  for  said  ces- 
sion :  Provided,  That  said  commissioners  be  and  they  are  here- 
by limited  and  restricted  to  the  tender  of  the  sum  of  one  million 
dollars  in  the  first  section  of  this  act  mentioned  and  set  forth  : 
And  provided  further,  That  upon  the  acceptance  by  the  State  of 
Florida  of  the  tender  aforesaid,  and  the  ratification  by  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  of  the  act  of  cession  as  aforesaid,  the 
cession  herein  provided  for  shall  be  complete,  and  tl^e  bonds  of 
the  State  hereinbefore  mentioned  shall  be  executed  and  delivered 
by  the  authorities  of  the  State  of  Alabama  to  the  authorities  of 
the  State  of  Florida  in  full  satisfaction  and  compensation  of  the 
cession  of  the  territory  aforesaid. 

Section  3.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  sum  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  or  as  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  be 
and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated  to  pay  the  expenses  of  said 
commission,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury  on  the  warrant  of  the 
Auditor,  to  be  issued  on  the  order  of  the  Governor. 

Approved  March  27,  1873. 

DAVID  P.   LEWIS,    Governor. 


ARTICLES    OF    AGREEMENT 

Between  the    Commissioners  of  the   two  States  for  the  Cession  of 
West  Florida  to  Alabama. 

An  agreement  entered  into  this  17th  day  of  May,  A.  D. 
1869,  between  W.  J.  Purman,  C.  E.  Dyke  and  N.  H  Moragne, 
Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Florida,  appointed 
under  joint  resolutions  on  the  25th  of  January,  1869  and  Messrs. 
J.  L.  Pennington,  A.  J.  Walker  and  Charles  A.  Miller,  Com- 
missioners on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  appointed  under 
joint  resolution  approved  December  31,  1868,  witnesseth  as 
follows  : 

First.  The  State  of  Florida  cedes  to  the  State  of  Alabama 
that  portion  of  Florida  lying  west  of  the  thread  of  the  Chat- 
tahoochee and  Apalachicola  Rivers,  and  west  of  a  line  running 
due  south  from  the  thread  of  the  mouth  of  the  Apalachicola, 
bending  west  so  as  to  pass  between  the  Islands  of  St.  George 
and  St.  Vincent,  which  territory  so  ceded  is  called  in  this  Agree 
ment  West  Florida. 

Second.  The  State  of  Florida  bargains,  sells,  grants  and 
conveys  to  the  State  of  Alabama  all  the  lands  heretofore  acquired 
by  the  State  of  Florida,  and  situated  within  the  district  of  coun- 
try above  described,  which  may  be  undis})Osed  of  at  the  date  of 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  245 

the  consummation  of  this  agreement,  whether  of  Seminary, 
School,  or  Sixteenth  Sections,  Internal  Improvement,  Swamp 
and  Overflowed,  and  the  five  per  cent,  arising  from  the  sale  of 
the  United  States  lands  lying  West  of  the  rivers  above  men- 
tioned, accruing  from  and  after  the  date  of  the  consummation  of 
this  agreement,  and  guaranteeing  to  Alabama  full  and  complete 
title  thereto  for  the  purposes  hereinafter  specified,  and  agreeing 
to  indemnify  the  said  State  of  Alabama  for  all  loss  she  may  sus- 
tain growing  out  of  any  adverse  claims  which  may  be  set  up 
thereto.  Provided,  that  the  State  of  Florida,  pending  the  con- 
summation of  this  agreement,  shall  dispose  of  none  of  the  lands 
above  mentioned,  either  by  sale,  donation  or  otherwise,  except 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  in  force  in  said  State  at  the  date  of 
the  signing  of  these  presents  and  for  the  benefit  of  West 
Florida. 

Third.  The  State  of  Alabama  takes  the  said  lands  sub- 
ject to  the  trusts  imposed  by  the  acts  of  Congress  granting  the 
same. 

Fourth.  That  immediately  after  the  assent  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  to  this  Agreement  between  the  State  of 
Florida  and  the  State  of  Alabama,  it  shall  be  the  duties  of  the 
Governors  of  Florida  and  Alabama  to  issue  their  respective 
proclamations,  naming  a  day  within  sixty  days  after  such  assent 
of  Congress  shall  be  obtained,  when  the  jurisdiction  of  Florida 
shall  cease,  and  when  the  officers  and  people  of  the  territory  of 
West  Florida  shall  be  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of 
Alabama  in  accordance  with  and  under  the  laws  and  Constitu- 
tion of  same. 

Fifth.  That  all  judicial  and  other  local  officers  in  the  terri- 
tory of  West  Florida  shall  continue  to  exercise  the  functions  of 
their  several  offices,  after  the  said  transfer  shall  have  been 
consummated,  for  the  full  terms  for  which  they  wer&  elected  or 
appointed;  and  all  such  judicial  and  all  other  proceedings  of 
such  officers  shall  be  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  Alabama. 

Sixth.  That  the  several  counties  in  West  Florida  shall  com- 
pose one  Judicial  Circuit  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  and  the  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  the  First  Judicial  District  of  Florida  shall  be  the 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  for  a  circuit 
composed  of  said  counties,  until  his  term  as  Judge  of  the  District 
Court  of  Florida  shall  terminate,  and  the  said  counties  shall  com- 
pose a  Chancery  District  of  the  Southern  Chancery  Division  of 
the  State  of  Alabama,  and  the  Chancellor  of  such  Division  shall 
be  the  Chancellor  of  the  said  Chancery  District,  and  the  terms 
thereof  shall  be  held  at  times  and  a  place  to  be  prescribed  by 
such  Chancellor,   and  all  Chancery  causes  pending  in   the  Dis- 


246  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

trict  or  Circuit  Court  of  said  counties,  shall,  with  all  the  papers 
and  records  of  the  proceedings  therein,  certified  by  the  several 
Clerks  of  the  said  District  or  Circuit  Court,  be  transferred  to  the 
said  Chancery  Court,  and  be  therein  cognizable,  and  the  said 
Chancellor  shall  appoint  a  Register  for  such  Court. 

Seventh.  And  the  County  Judges  of  the  respective  counties 
above  named  shall  be  Judges  of  Probate  under  the  laws  of  the 
State  of  Alabama  until  their  respective  terms,  for  which  they 
were  elected  or  appointed  under  the  laws  of  Florida,  shall  termi- 
nate. And  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  of  the  said 
respective  counties  shall  be  the  County  Commissioners  in  their 
several  counties  for  the  terms  for  which  they  were  elected  or 
appointed.  And  the  Sheriffs,  Coroners,  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
Clerks  of  the  Circuit  or  District  Court,  by  whichever  name  they 
may  be  called,  County  Treasurers,  Collectors  of  Revenue  and 
Assessors  of  Taxes,  shall  fill  the  corresponding  offices  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  Alabama  to  the  end  of  the  terms  for  which 
they  were  respectively  elected  or  appointed.  And  the  several 
Clerks  of  the  Circuit  or  District  Court  shall  be  the  Clerks 
of  the  Circuit  Court  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama ;  and  the  said  Circuit  Court  shall  have  jurisdiction  of  all 
cases  in  the  District  or  Circuit  Court  of  the  said  counties,  except 
that  the  Chancery  causes  shall  be  transferred  to  the  Chancery 
Court  as  hereinbefore  stated.  And  the  said  Judges  of  the 
County  Court  shall  be  Probate  Judges,  and  have  jurisdiction  of 
the  causes  in  their  respective  County  Courts,  and  be  Probate 
Judges  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Alabama.  And  the  said 
County  Commissioners  and  County  Judges  shall  execute  all  the 
powers  of  County  Commissioners  and  Probate  Judges  under  the 
laws  of  Alabama. 

Eighth.  The  State  of  Alabama,  in  consideration  of  the  ces- 
sion by  th^  State  of  Florida  hereinbefore  mentioned,  shall  pay 
to  the  said  State,  within  ninety  days  after  the  consummation  of 
the  annexation  of  West  Florida  to  the  State  of  Alabama,  the 
sum  of  one  million  of  dollars  in  bonds,  bearing  interest  at  the 
rate  of  eight  per  cent,  per  annum,  redeemable  at  the  Treasury 
of  the  State  of  Alabama  in  thirty  years  from  the  date  thereof, 
the  interest  to  be  payable  semi-annually  in  the  City  of  New 
York.  The  said  sum  of  one  million  of  dollars  shall  be  in  com- 
pensation to  the  State  of  Florida  for  the  proportion  of  the  debt 
of  said  State,  which  the  amount  of  taxes  paid  by  the  several 
counties  embraced  in  the  district  of  country  ceded  to  Alabama 
may  bear  to  the  taxes  paid  by  the  remaining  portion  of  the  said 
State  of  Florida ;  and  the  balance  of  the  said  sum  of  one  mil- 
lion of  dollars  shall  be  in  full  payment  for  the  Seminary,  Six- 
teenth Section,  Internal  Improvement,  Swamp  and   Overflowed 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  247 

lands  ceded  to  the  State  of  Alabama,  the  title  to  which  is  guar- 
anteed by  the  State  of  Florida  as  hereinbefore  mentioned,  which 
said  balance  shall  be  for  the  use  and  purposes  contemplated  in 
the  grants  of  the  said  lands  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  as  provided  for  by  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Florida 
in  force  at  the  date  of  this  agreenment. 

Ninth.  That  the  counties  respectively  in  the  territory  of 
West  Florida  shall  be  allowed,  and  by  this  stipulation  have 
authority  to  retain  the  State  taxes  assessed  and  collected  for 
the  first  year  under  the  revenue  laws  of  the  State  of  Alabama, 
and  the  amounts  so  retained  shall  be  appropriated  by  the  County 
Commissioners  to  the  improvement  and  erection  of  court-houses 
and  other  public  buildings  in  their  respective  counties. 

Tenth.  The  benefit  of  the  indorsement  laws  of  the  State  of 
Alabama,  to  the  extent  of  sixteen  thousand  dollars  per  mile, 
shall  apply  to  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  the  point  of 
junction  with  the  Pensacola  and  Georgia  Railroad  of  Florida, 
on  the  Apalachicola  River,  in  the  direction  of  Quincy,  to  the 
waters  of  Escambia  Bay,  or  to  a  junction  with  the  Pensacola 
and  Louisville  Railroad  in  Florida,  or  the  Alabama  and  Florida 
Railroad  in  Alabama,  and  to  the  Pensacola  and  Louisville  Rail- 
road, and  to  no  other  railroad,  for  the  period  of  three  years 
from  the  date  of  the  consummation  of  this  Agreement ;  and  the 
charter  of  the  Pensacola  and  Georgia  Railroad  of  Florida, 
with  the  amendments  thereto,  shall  be  in  force  in  the  district  of 
country  embraced  in  the  first  Article  of  this  Agreement,  for  the 
purposes  specified  in  said  charter  and  amendments,  and  the 
Pensacola  and  Georgia  Railroad  Company  shall  be  entitled  to 
construct  their  roads  and  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  of 
the  indorsement  laws  of  Alabama,  as  hereinbefore  expressed, 
the  same  as  if  their  said  charter  and  amendments  had  been 
granted  by  the  State  of  Alabama;  and  the  State  of  Alabama, 
neither  under  any  general  act  of  incorporation  now  in 
force,  nor  by  any  special  act  of  legislation  heretofore  or  hereaf- 
ter to  be  adopted,  shall  authorize  the  construction  of  any  rail- 
road from  the  Chattahoochee  or  Apalachicola  Rivers  through 
the  district  of  country  before  mentioned,  in  the  direction  of  the 
waters  of  Escambia  Bay,  or  to  a  junction  with  the  Pensacola 
and  Louisville  Railroad,  for  the  period  of  three  years  from  the 
date  of  the  Agreement  hereinbefore  set  forth. 

Eleventh.  Until  otherwise  provided,  the  counties  as  now 
constituted  lying  west  of  the  line  mentioned  in  the  first  Article 
of  this  Agreement,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same  representation 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  Alabama  that  they  are  now  entitled 
to  in  the  Legislature  of  Florida ;  and  that  portion  of  Franklin 
County  embraced  within  and   lying  west  of   said  line   shall  be 


248  CARPETRAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

known  as  the  county  of  Franklin,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  at 
least  one  Representative  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Alabama, 
and  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  the  above  counties 
shall  hold  their  offices  for  the  full  term  for  which  they  were 
elected. 

Twelfth.  The  solvent  taxes  returned  from  the  district  of 
country  agreed  to  be  annexed,  unpaid  at  the  time  such  annexa- 
tion shall  be  consummated,  shall  be  the  property  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  and  shall  be  assumed  by  the  State  of  Alabama  and  paid 
in  money.  The  amount  so  due  and  unpaid  shall  be  ascertained 
from  the  tax  returns  made  to  the  Comptroller  of  the  State  of 
Florida. 

Thirteenth.  This  agreement  shall  not  be  of  force  until  the 
same  shall  be  ratified  and  approved  by  the  States  of  Florida  and 
Alabama  in  a  legal  manner,  and  by  the  legal  and  proper  authori- 
ties, and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  given  its  assent 
thereto. 

(Signed)  W.  J.  PURMAN, 

N.  H.  MORAGNE, 
J.  L.  PENNINGTON, 
A.  J.  WALKER, 
.     CHAS.   A.  MILLER, 

Commissioners. 

For  the  sole  purpose  of  bringing  the  matter  contemplated 
in  the  Resolutions  of  the  State  of  Florida  before  the  people 
thereof,  I  assent,  as  a  Commissioner  on  the  part  of  said  State, 
to  the  above,  reserving  to  myself  as  a  citizen  the  right  to  judge 
of  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  accepting  a?iy  terms  for 
ceding  to  a  foreign  and  alien  jurisdiction  any  part  or  portion  of 
the  people  and  Territory  of  Florida. 

C.  E.  DYKE. 

The  Alabama  Commissioners  met  the  two  houses  in  joint 
session,  and  in  their  address  strongly  urged  the  annexation 
scheme ;  but  the  matter  went  no  further  because  of  the  exhorbi- 
tant  demands  of  the  Ring  that  the  commissioners  should  "  talk 
turkey  "  before  any  legislative  action  should  be  taken. 

Mr.  Martin,  who  was  Warden  of  the  State  prison  while 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  in  which  situation  he  was  able  to  so 
shape  appropriation  bills'  as  to  give  him  a  good  margin  after 
scantily  feeding  and  clothing  the  prisoners,  was  determined  that 
the  inside  workings  of  that  institution  should  be  known  to  no 
one  but  himself  and  the  inmates.     Heretofore  the   committee 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORFDA.  249 

appointed  to  visit  and  inspect   the  institution  went   rather  on  a 
frolic  than  for  the  purpose  of  a  real   inspection,  and  of  course 
he  would  make  it  doubly  pleasant  for  them,  especially  when  his 
conduct  in  the  management  was  reported  by  many  to  be  very 
questionable.     A  committee  was  elected  to  visit  the  prison  and 
report   to  the  Assembly.     The   anti-ring    Republicans  and  the 
Democrats  assisted  in  getting  Dan  Mclnnis,  colored,  of  Duval, 
and  T.  C.  Gass,  colored,  of  Alachua,  on  the  committee.     Mar- 
tin, suspecting  mischief  in  Mclnnis  and  Gass,  as   they  did  not 
take  much  to  carpetbag  conduct,   had  a  special  train  prepared 
with  wines,  whiskies  and  cigars  on  board  for  the  comfort  of  the 
visiting  guests.     He  gave  Gass  and  Mclnnis  to  understand  that 
the  train  would  start  at  a  designated   hour,  but  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  his  colored  guests  the  train  left  just   two  hours    sooner 
than  the  time  designated  and  the  colored  brother  was  left  behind. 
Mclnnis  was  a  very  energetic  and   determined  representative, 
and  by  other  means  he  and  Gass  were  on  the  ground  in  time  to 
see  Martin    out,  who  pretended  .that  they  had   misunderstood 
him  as  to  'the  time.     Martin  at  once   set   out  his  liquors  and 
cigars,  which  Gass  and  Mclnnis  refused  to  partake  of,  but  went 
about  their  investigation.     Martin  had  been  working  the  prison- 
ers on  his  own  private  farm  or  vineyard  while  pretending  to  be 
cultivating  grapes  for  wine-making    for  the  State,  and  he  made 
thousands  of  dollars  for  himself  out  of  the  prisoners  while  the 
State  lost  thousands  by  his  management.     This  conduct,  and  his 
cruelty  to  the  prisoners,  had  been  whispered  around  among  col- 
ored members  by  the  Democrats,  and  Mclnnis  was  disposed  to 
give  the  matter  a  thorough  sifting,   as  far  as  in  him  lay.     In 
his  tour  of  inspection  he  came  to  an  apartment  where  there  were 
a  number  of  prisoners  chained  down  flat  on  their  backs.     Mar- 
tin, who  had  lost  sight  of  Mclnnis,  started   on   his   trail,    and 
finally  found  him  standing  over  the  chained  convicts,  interroga- 
ting them  as  to  their  treatment.     Martin  out  with  an  oath,  say- 
ing, *'  Get  out  of  here,  you  son  of  a  b— ."     Mclnnis  refused  to 
depart.     Martin  then  called  his  guard  and  had  the  drum  corps 
play  the  "  rogue's  march  "  and  marched  Gass  and  Mclnnis  off 
the  premises  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.     This   action  on   the 
part  of  Martin  was  reported  to  the  Legislature,  and  an  investi- 


250  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  Fi  ORIDA. 

gation  was  ordered  under  the  following  resolution,  introduced  by 
Mr.  Proctor : 

Whereas,  It  is  reported  that  two  of  the  members  appointed 
by  the  Assembly  to  visit  and  inspect  the  State  prison  were, 
without  any  cause,  forcibly  ejected  from  the  prison  by  order  of 
the  Warden,  who  is  Speaker  of  the  Assembly ;  therefore 

"  Be  it  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  inquire  into  the  con- 
duct of  the  Speaker-warden  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  said 
members  of  the  Assembly  to  said  prison,  that  the  Assembly  may 
take  such  action  in  the  premises  as  may  be  deemed  necessary. " 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Wallace,  a  committee  of  five  was  elected 
by  the  Assembly,  under  the  resolution  above  recited,  to  investi- 
gate the  conduct  of  the  warden  of  the  State  prison ;  namely, 
Messrs.  Swearingen,  Wallace,  Chadwick,  Mitchell  and  Washing- 
ton. This  committee,  after  making  a  thorough  investigation 
into  this  outrage,  reported  to  the  Assembly  concerning  Martin's 
conduct,  after  which  the  following  resolution  was  adpoted ;  but 
owing  to  the  early  adjournment  he  was  spared  from  exposure 
and  disgrace  : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  two  on  the  part  of  the 
Assembly  and  one  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  be  elected  to 
inspect  the  State  Penitentiary,  to  proceed  immediately  to 
thoroughly  inspect  the  condition  of  the  State  prison ;  and 
said  committees  be  instructed  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  food  and  clothing  furnished  to  convicts 
the  past  year,  and  the  disposition  made  of  the  labor  of  said  con- 
victs, and  that  said  committee  be  authorized  to  summon,  swear 
and  examine  witnesses,  and  books  and  papers  properly  belong- 
ing to  the  State  Penitentiary. 

While  the  members  of  the  Ring  were  looking  anxiously  for 
the  death  of  Governor  Hart,  and  desiring  the  possession  of  the 
railroad  to  assist  them  in  the  gigantic  fraud  which  they  had 
already  planned  to  retain  possession  of  the  State,  this  proposi- 
tion was  left  at  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature  as  unfinished 
business,  having  been  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Railroads, 
where  it  was  strangled. 

At  this  time  Gov.  Reed,  desiring  to  get  rid  of  the  compli- 
cations   growing    out    of  the    unsatisfactory   condition   of  the 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  25 1 

railroads  and  to  if  possiable  place  them  on  a  sound  and  healthy- 
basis,  made  to  Gov.  Hart,  and  through  him  to  the  Legislature  a 
proposition  to  buy  the  roads  and  retire  the  outstandings  bonds. 
The  offer  was  coldly  received  and  was  not  acted  upon. 

Tallahassee,  February  9,  1874. 
His  Excellency,  Ossian  B.  Hart, 

Governor  of  Florida  : 
Sir  :  In  view  of  the  present  complication  of  affairs  in 
connection  with  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Rail- 
road and  the  efforts  to  involve  the  State  in  further  embarrass- 
ment in  relation  to  it,  as  well  as  to  injure  its  credit,  I  beg  to  sub- 
mit the  following  proposition  for  the  consideration  of  yourself 
and  the  two  houses  of  the  Legislature,  viz :  If  the  State  will 
make  a  clear  and  full  title  to  the  Road  from  Jacksonville  to  the 
Chattahoochee,  with  its  branches  and  all  its  franchises,  rolling 
stock  and  property,  I  will  agree  within  ninety  days  to  find  a 
responsible  party  to  purchase  the  same  and  pay  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  ($300,000)  return  the  outstanding  State  bonds 
issued  to  the  Company  and  guarantee  the  construction  of  the 
road  from  the  Chattahoochee  to  the  State  line  within  five  years 
from  the  date  of  the  transfer. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

With  great  respect. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

HARRISON  REED. 

At  this  session  also.  Governor  Reed  made  an  attempt  to  get 
a  settlement  of  his  claims  against  the  State  for  moneys  expended 
by  him  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  Governor  of  the 
State.  The  following  memorial  shows  the  nature  and  extent  of 
his  claim : 

The  memorial  of  the  undersigned  respectfully  represents — 
That  from  June  8th,  1868,  until  January  8th,  1873,  he  was 
the  Governor  of  Florida,  elected  by  the  people  in  accordance 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  State  and  the  Laws  of  the  United 
States ; 

That  as  such  Governor  he  was  charged  with  extraordinary 
responsibilities  and  complicated  duties,  involving  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  people,  the  peace  and  order  of  society,  and  the 
integrity  and  honor  of  the  State; 

That  it  became  necessary,  in  carrying  out  the  laws  of  the 
State  without  money  in  the  Treasury  or  credit  abroad,  for  him 
to  borrow  large  sums  of  money  on  his  own  personal  responsi- 


252  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

bility,  to  discharge  his  duties  efficiently  and  save  the  State  from 
disorder,  and  resist  successfully  the  efforts  to  disorganize  and 
overthrow  the  (rovernment; 

That  he  was  subjected  to  expenditures  of  more  than  ten 
thousand  dollars  for  attorney  fees  and  expenses  in  defence 
against  unjust  charges  in  im])eachmeht,  and  resisting  revolution- 
ary schemes  calculated  to  bring  the  State  under  martial  law ; 
and  for  which  he  has  never  received  remuneration  nor  presented 
any  claim ; 

That  his  extraordinary  expenditures  for  the  maintenance  of 
civil  government  and  constitutional  righcs,  and  to  meet  the 
(sometimes  unreasonable)  exactions  of  the  people  under  the 
laws,  amount  to  over  thirty  thousand  dollars,  for  which  he  has 
received  no  compensation ;  and  but  for  these  expenditures  the 
State  would  have  been  remitted  to  military  government  and  a 
condition  of  anarchy  and  bloodshed,  as  well  as  almost  irretriev- 
able bankruptcy,  as  other  reconstructed  States,  under  far  more 
favorable  circumstances,  have  been; 

That  the  accounts  of  your  memorialist  for  the  expenditures 
were  examined  and  allowed  by  a  committee  of  the  Legislature 
in  187 1  to  the  amount  of  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  and  again 
in  1873  to  the  amount  of  twenty-four  thousand  dollars; 

That  he  is  now  largely  indebted  and  his  property  encum- 
bered, on  account  of  these  expenditures,  and  he  is  now  subject 
to  a  heavy  interest  which,  if  not  speedily  arrested,  will  absorb 
the  accumulation  of  years  of  frugal  industry. 

And  your  memorialist  further  represents— 

That  while  it  is  contrary  to  his  desire  as  a  private  citizen  to 
array  himself  in  hostility  with  or  question  the  veracity  of  any 
State  officer,  and  especialy  one  in  whom  he  had  formerly  placed 
implicit  confidence,  yet  justice  to  himself  and  to  the  State, 
whose  high  trust  he  has  executed,  requires  that  he  should  deny 
in  detail  and  in  extenso  each  and  every  allegation,  of  the  report 
of  the  State  Comptroller  in  relation  to  the  action  of  your 
memorialist  in  connection  with  the  hypothecation  of  bonds  in 
New  York,  and  that  he  state  unqualifiedly  that,  while  Governor  he 
never  at  any  time  received  money  on  account  of  the  State,  nor 
in  any  manner  ever  bound  the  State,  nor  attemped  to  bind  the 
State,  nor  ever  pledged  its  bonds  for  any  money  for  which  he 
has  not  accounted  to  the  Treasury  and  the  Legislature ; 

That  it  is  not  true  that  your  memorialist  hypothecated  any 
bonds  with  the  New  York  Warehouse  and  Security  Company, 
nor  increased  the  rate  of  interest  on  loans  made  by  others  from 
that  company ;  but  that  he  did  procure  the  extension  of  a  loan 
previously  made  from  that  company  for  three  months  upon  the 
same  terms  as  the  loan  previously  carried,   which  were  uncon- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  253 

scionable  and  unreasonable,   and  which  he  would  never  have 
consented  to  as  an  origional  proposition; 

That  there  was  no  such  claim — legal  or  equitable — against 
the  remaining  bonds  of  the  State  im  the  hands  of  Bayne  &  Co. 
as  that  which  the  Comptroller  claims  to  have  allowed  and  paid  ; 
That  the  Comptroller  nor  any  other  person  has  seen  or  holds 
any  receipt,  note  or  obligation  executed  by  yonr  memorialist 
on  account  of  the  State  of  Florida,  by  which  the  bonds  could  be 
charged  with  any  such  sum  as  he  has  allowed  and  claims  to 
have  paid; 

That  your  memorialist,  when  called  upon  by  the  Comptrol- 
ler, pubhcly  stated  in  the  Senate  Chamber  that  all  that  was 
properly  and  legally  chargeable  against  said  bonds  was  the 
amount  set  forth  in  his  report  to  the  Legislature,  and  that 
when  the  Senate  was  prepared  to  pay  that  amount  he  would 
guarantee  the  return  of  the  bonds ;  and  that  subsequently  he 
presented  that  report  to  the  Comptroller  in  his  office  and  re- 
newed the  pledge  to  procure  the  return  of  the  bonds  upon  pay- 
men  in  accordance  therewith ;  and  on  another  occasion  he 
repeated  the  statement,  and  finally,  in  a  letter,  set  forth  in  the 
Comptroller's  report,  called  attention  to  that  report  as  correct; 
That  he  offered  his  personal  services,  gratuitously,  and  all 
official  information,  to  assist  in  the  settlement  upon  the  basis  of 
his  statement  aforesaid;  and  all  overtures  were  repelled  with 
what  your  memorialist  regarded  as  indignity  and  arrogance ; 

That  the  representative  ot  Bayne  &  Co.,  then  in  attendance 
here,  said  to  your  memorialist  that  they  would  surrender  the 
bonds  upon  payment  in  cash  of  what  your  memorialist  admitted 
to  be  due,  and  said  at  the  same  time  that  they  held  additional 
collaterals  from  General  Littlefield  of  near  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars ; 

That  the  statement  of  account  of  Bayne  &  Co.  against 
General  Littlefield  and  now  in  his  hands,  and  which  your  memo- 
rialist is  imformed  was  laid  before  the  Comptroller,  showed 
that  these  bonds  were  held  as  collateral  for  only  about  eighty- 
three  thousand  dollars. 

Your  memorialist,  therefore,  in  view  of  the  public  interest 
involved  as  well  as  his  own,  most  respectfully  and  urgently 
request  that  your  honorable  body  will  appoint  a  joint  committee 
to  examine  and  investigate  thoroughly  and  impartially  all 
matters  touching  the  charges  of  the  Comptroller  referred  to, 
and  everything  in  connection  with  the  hypothecation  and 
redemption  of  the  State  bonds  in  question ;  and  that  your  com- 
mittee also  examine  and  adjust  the  claims  of  your  memorialist, 
And  as  in  duty  bound  will  ever  pray,  &c., 

HARRISON  REED. 
Tallahassee,  January  i6,  1874. 


254  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Mr.  Sturtevant  offered  the  following  joint  resolution  in  the 
Senate,  which  was  adopted: 

Resolved^  By  the  Senate,  the  Assembly  concurring,  That 
a  joint  commit  '  ffive,  two  members  of  the  Senate  and  three 
from  the  Assembly,  be  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the 
memorial  of  Ex-Governor  Harrison  Reed,  and  to  report  as  soon 
as  practicable  to  the  Legislature  all  matters  pertaining  thereto. 

In  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  John  L.  Crawford  and  E. 
C.  Howe,  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  and  E.  R.  Chadwick,  J.  B. 
Browne,  and  John  E.  Proctor,  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly, 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  investigate  and  report  upon  the 
accounts  of  Governor  Reed  as  prayed  for  in  the  memorial.  On 
the  14th  of  February,  1874,  the  committee  reported  as  follows: 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of  ex- 
Governor  Harrison  Reed,  ask  leave  to  make  the  following  re- 
port : 

The  amounts  claimed  by  ex-Governor  Reed  are  as  follows : 

Expenditures  under  act  of  the  Legislature  of  1868,  $22,603.19 

General  contingent  expenses 6,067.30 

Balance  on  Executive  contingent  expenses  .    .    .    .  5>^45-85 

House  rent  and  interest  on  same 5,690.00 

Total $39»6o6.34 

Of  this  amount,  $32,900.06  is  the  principal  of  the  account, 
and  $6,706.28  is  interest,  reckoned  at  7  per  cent. 

Vouchers  were  presented  for  $20,070. 25,* leaving  a  balance 
for  which  there  are  no  vouchers,  save  the  official  statement  of 
Governor  Reed,  of  $12,820.81. 

Evidence  taken  before  the  committee  went  to  show 

that  Governor  Reed  had  borrowed $24,136.29 

Which  amount  the  State  had  paid  and  holds  a 
receipt  for  the  same.  From  this  amount,  how- 
ever, should  be  taken  the  amount  Governor 
Reed  paid  Warehouse  and  Security  Company, 
New  York,  charges  on  hypothecated  bonds  .    .         i, 5^7-^5 

Leaving  a  balance  of $22,549.14 

which  should  be  deducted  from  the  amount  due 
him  from  the  State. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  255 

The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  at  most  Gov- 
ernor Reed  can  only  claim  $500  per  year  for 
house  rent.  Allowing  this,  would  leave  the 
principal  of  his  account  at $29,460.06 

From  which  deduct 22,549,14 

Leaving  a  balance  of $  6,910.02 

in  his  favor. 

As  Governor  Reed  claims  three  years'  interest  at  7 
per  cent,  on  whatever  sum  may  be  due  him, 
and  as  the  committee  desire  to  present  his  claim 
in  full,  in  order  that  each  member  of  the  Leg- 
islature may  know  the  extent  and  particulars  of 
the  claim,  we  add  to  the  above  three  years'  in- 
terest at  7  per  cent $1,451-28 

Making  a  total  of $8,362.20 

Governor  Reed  also  claims  that  he  paid $2,000.00 

interest  on  bonds  in  New  York,  but  the  coupons 
he  claims  to  have  paid  have  not  been  returned 
to  the  State,  but  are  still  in  New  York.  If  he 
should  secure  the  return  of  those  coupons  and 
that  amount  is  allowed  him,  and  all  the  other 
items  of  his  accounts  are  allowed  also,  then  the 
grand  total  of  his  account  against  the  State 
would  be $10,362.20 

It  is  proper  for  the  committee  to  state  that  most  of  the 
expenditures  claimed  to  have  been  made  by  Governor  Reed 
were  incurred  under  the  head  of  secret  service,  and  under  the 
provisions  of  chapter  1,660,  Laws  of  Florida.  As  to  the  neces- 
sity or  propriety  for  those  expenditures,  each  member  of  the 
Legislature  can  judge  as  well  as  your  committee. 

If  Governor  Reed  should  only  be  allowed  the  amount  for 
which  he  presented  vouchers,  he  would  then  stand  in  debt  to 
the  State,  but  the  committee  think  that  large  latitude  should  be 
allowed  him  in  the  consideration  of  his  claim,  and  in  view  of  all 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  expenditures  were  made,  the 
committee  recommend  that  the  Legislature  should  treat  the 
claim  of  the  ex-Governor  with  the  utmost  generosity  consistent 
with  the  interests  of  the  State. 

In  the  Senate  the  report  of  the  committee  was  not 
acted  upon  at  this  session,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  M.  L. 
Stearns,  using  his  influence  quietly  against  its  consideration. 


256  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

At  the  session  of  1873,  ^"  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  passed  authorizing 
the  issue  of  one  million  dollars  of  State  bonds,  to  bear  six  per 
cent,  interest  in  gold,  and  payable  in  thirty  years.  These 
bonds  were  to  be  sold  for  not  less  than  eighty  cents  on  the  dol- 
lar. Thousands  of  dollars  of  State  scrip  had  been  issued  to  run 
the  State  government,  and  as  soon  as  the  bill  became  a  law  a 
scrip  ring  was  formed  about  the  capitol  among  some  of  the  cab- 
inet officers,  for  the  purpose  of  converting  the  scrip  into  these 
bonds.  As,  at  this  time,  scrip  was  selling  for  thirty-five  and 
forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  these  industrious  gentlemen  were  able 
to  drive  quite  a  profitable  trade. 

The  Agricultural  College  scrip,  amounting  to  about  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  was  soon  to  be  received  from  the  gen- 
eral government.  It  would  sell  for  about  eighty  thousand  dol- 
lars. While  Cowgill,  Hart,  Stearns  and  Company  were  smack- 
ing their  greedy  mouths  over  this  expected  prey,  Varnum 
slipped  to  New  York  and  purchased  State  bonds  from  Bayne  & 
Co.,  already  held  by  them  against  the  State.  Cowgill  intimates 
in  his  report  that  something  was  rotten  in  this  transaction  of  Var- 
num's,  but  whatever  may  have  induced  him  to  make  the  pur- 
chase, he  did  at  least  one  righteous  act  while  treasurer  of  the 
Agricultural  College,  by  beating  these  vultures  out  of  eighty 
thousand  dollars.  The  following  is  Cowgill's  lamentation  to 
Hart  on  this  matter  : 

' '  While  I  know  that  much  has  been  accomplished  by  this 
settlement,  yet  the  reasonable  expectations  which  were  enter- 
tained of  selling  all  the  bonds  have  not  been  realized. 

' '  To  this  end  I  attempted  to  have  the  money  arising  from 
the  sale  of  the  Agricultural  College  scrip  invested  in  these  bonds, 
so  that  the  money  might  come  into  the  Treasury. 

''Assurances  had  been  given  by  several  of  the  Trustees  of 
their  approval  of  this  investment. 

"To  induce  them  to  do  so,  I  addressed  to  them  the  follow- 
ing letter: 

Tallahassee,  May  17,  1873. 

Gentleman  :  I  have  the  honor  to  request  that  you  will 
invest  the  money  belonging  to  the  Agricultural  College  in  the 
new  bonds  of  the  State  of  Florida. 

I  would  not  make  this  application  did  I  not  feel  assured, 
both  as  a  citizen  and  as  Comptroller,  knowing  the  resources  of 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  257 

the  State,  that  the  investment  will  be  perfectly  secure,  and  more 
advantageous  to  the  College  than  any  likely  to  be  made. 

These  bonds  are  sold  at  80  cents,  and  bear  interest  payable 
semi-annually  at  six  per  cent,  in  gold ;  thus  for  $800  you  get  a 
bond  for  $1000,  and  when  U.  S.  currency  and  gold  are  equal  in 
value  the  interest  is  7^  per  cent,  on  your  investment,  and  with 
gold  at  14  per  cent,  premium  (at  or  about  which  rate  it  will 
probably  continue  for  some  time),  the  investment  yields  a  trifle 
over  8}4  per  cent. 

I  enclose  copy  of  a  letter  I  sent  to  Bayne  &  Co.,  of  New 
York,  with  whom  I  am  successfully  negotiating  in  reference  to 
the  return  of  the  old  hypothecated  bonds  of  1868  and  1869,  and 
also  refer  you  to  a  statement  published  in  the  last  Sentinel  con- 
cerning the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  State  since  ist  of 
January,  as  evidences  of  our  return  to  a  healthful  condition 
financially. 

If  those  interested  in  the  future  of  our  State,  (and  who  is 
not  ?)  will  cordially  unite  in  assisting  to  restore  our  finances,  we 
will  soon  be  on  a  cash  basis  ;  and  I  regand  the  expression  of  your 
confidence  in  this  progressive  prosperity  of  our  State,  as  will  be 
evidenced  by  this  investment,  as  a  very  important,  and  perhaps 
essential  auxiliary. 

I  am  leaving  for  New  York  on  business,  and  I  hope  to  hear 
from  you  formally,  so  that  I  can  show  to  bankers  the  confidence 
your  board  reposes  in  the  recuperative  energy  of  our  State. 
Very  respectfully, 

C.  A.  CowGiLL,  Comptroller. 
Trustees  of  the  Florida  Agricultural  College. 

A  favorable  response  to  this  request  was  personally  solicited 
from  the  Trustees  by  Lieutenant-Governor  Stearns  and  other 
gentlemen.  The  board  met  May  2 2d,  and  after  their  adjourn- 
ment, Lieutenant-Governor  Stearns  was  informed  by  members 
that  the  investment  was  directed  to  be  made  in  the  new  bonds 
and  so  telegraphed  to  me  in  New  York.  General  Varnum, 
Treasurer  of  the  Agricultural  Board,  came  to  New  York  and 
informed  me  that  the  Trustees  had  come  to  no  definite  conclu- 
sion, but  had  left  the  whole  matter  of  investment  in  his  hands. 
Obtaining  from  him  no  satisfactory  information,  and  snpposing 
that  he  was  for  some  unknown  reason  delaying  the  action  and  yet 
never  doubting  that  in  the  end  and  at  the  time  when  the  State 
most  needed  the  money,  the  purchase  would  be  made  from  the 
State,  I  returned  to  Florida. 

It  was  not  until  October  that  I  suspected  that  General  Var- 
num might  have   invested  in   the  bonds  belonging  to    Bayne 

17 


258  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

&  Co.,  and  October  15th  I  addressed  a  letter  to  them,  asking  if 
General  Varnum  had  purchased  bonds  from  them.  In  reply  to 
this  letter  I  received  a  telegram  and  a  letter  as  follows  : 

New  York,  October  27,  1873. 
Dr.   Cowc.iLL  : 

My  Dear  Sir: — We  dispatched  to  you  a  few  days  ago  in 
reply  to  your  favor  of  the  15th  inst.,  as  follows:  "Varnum 
alone  can  give  the  information." 

I  answered  thus,  at  the  instance  of  General  Varnum  who 
proposed  to  see  you  in  person  with  reference  to  the  subject  mat- 
ter of  your  note. 

This  is  the  first  time  that  you  have  put  a  direct  question  to 
me,  as  to  whether  or  not  Varnum,  Treasurer,  had  bought  bonds 
from  us.  If  you  had  done  so,  under  restrictions  placed  upon  me, 
I  should  have  declined  to  answer  you,  but  in  so  doing  that  of 
itself  would  have  given  rise  to  suspicion  upon  your  part,  that 
probably  some  such  transaction  had  taken  place. 

You  would  have  then  sought  and  obtained  the  information 
from  the  party  or  parties  who  alone  had  the  right  to  communi- 
cate it. 

I  never  could  see  myself  any  good  reason  for  not  convers- 
ing freely  with  you  upon  the  subject,  yet  I  assure  you  we  are  not 
at  liberty  to  do  so.  It  is  proper  to  say  that  the  resolution  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  confirming  the  purchase  of  the  bonds  from 
us  made  early  in  last  June,  and  indeed  the  preliminaries  of  the 
negotiations,  dating  very  much  earlier  than  that,  with  some  of  the 
Trustees  exacts  of  Treasurer  positively  secrecy  as  to  the  purchase 
and  sale  referred  to,  until  the  matter  was  consummated  and 
ordered  officially  to  be  given  to  the  public. 

My  relations  with  you  warrant  me  in  withholding  no  inform- 
ation from  you,  when  sought,  and  by  consent  of  Varnum  I 
write  this.  Yours  truly, 

L.  P.  Bayne. 

P.  S. — The  transaction  was  one  of  pure  business.  Varnum 
wanted  to  buy,  and  we  certainly  wanted  to  sell. 

In  this  letter  Mr.  Bayne  says  truly  that  it  was  the  first  time 
I  ''  had  ever  put  a  direct  question  to  him  as  to  whether  or  not 
Varnum,  Treasurer,  had  bought  bonds,"  and  it  is  equally  true 
that  I  had  never  put  an  indirect  question  upon  the  subject,  as 
the  possibility  of  either  General  Varnum  purchasing  for,  or  of 
Mr.  Bayne  selling  to  the  College,  had  never  crossed  my  mind 
until  October. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  259 

I  then  addressed  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Agricuhural  College 
two  communications,  as  follows  : 

Office  of  Comptroller,  ) 

Tallahassee,   Fla.,  November  lo,  1873.       j' 

To  the  Ti'ustees  of  the  Florida  Agricultural  College  : 

Gentlemen — Section  1 7  of  the  act  entitled  an  act  to  estab- 
lish the  Florida  Agricultural  College,  approved  February  18, 
1870,  says  the  "Trustees  shall  report  to  the  Comptroller  annu- 
ally on  the  first  day  of  October  "  their  action  in  reference  to  the 
sale  of  land  or  land  scrip,  and  the  disposition  of  the  proceeds  of 
said  sale,  in  such  form  as  he  may  direct.  This  seems  to  make 
it  the  duty  of  the  Comptroller  to  indicate  to  the  Trustees  the 
form  in  which  this  report  shall  be  made. 

I  therefore  request  the  report  to  be  made  in  the  form  of  full 
and  explicit  answers  to  the  following  questions  : 

I  St.   Was  the  land  or  land  scrip  sold? 

2d.   At  what  time  was  the  sale  made  ? 

3d.  Upon  what  terms,  whether  for  cash  or  upon  credit,  and 
if  for  credit,  mention  manner  and  date  of  payment. 

4th.  To  whom  was  the  sale  made,  and  by  whom  as  the 
agent  of  the  board  ? 

5th.  Have  the  terms  of  sale  been  strictly  complied  with  :  if 
not,  mention  the  date  and  place  and  mode  of  actual  payment. 

6th.  To  whom  was  the  money  paid  as  the  agent  of  the 
Trustees  ? 

7th.  What  disposition  was  made  of  this  money — was  it  at 
once  invested  permanently,  or  was  it  placed  on  temporary 
deposit  ?     If  so,  at  what  rate  of  interest  ? 

8th.  What  permanent  investments  hav^  been  made,  date  of 
purchase  of  bonds  or  other  securities,  description  of  bonds, 
from  whom  purchased  and  at  what  price  ? 

9th.  By  whom  such  investments  were  made  as  the^agent  of 
the  Trustees,  and  by  what  authority  ? 

loth.  An  itemized  account  of  all  necessary  expenses  incurred 
in  these  transactions. 

Very  respectfully, 

C.  A.  Cowgill,  Comptroller. 


Comptroller's  Office,  | 

Tallahassee,  Fla.,  Nov.  10,  1873.    j 

To  the  Trustees  of  the  Florida  Agriculrwal  College. 

Gentleman — In  May  last,  I  addressed  you  a  communication 
which  was  designed  to  place  before  you  the  propriety  of  invest- 


26o  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

ing  the  fund,  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  lands  given  by  Con- 
gress to  the  College,  in  the  new  six  per  cent,  gold  bonds  of  the 
State  of  Florida. 

Believing  then  as  I  do  now,  that  it  would  be  to  the  advan- 
tage ot  the  College  if  the  Trustees  would  invest  this  money  so  as 
to  benefit  the  State  by  placing  funds  in  the  Treasury,  thereby 
assisting  materially  in  restoring  the  State  to  a  cash  basis,  I  urged 
them  to  do  so,  saying  that  I  considerid  the  endorsement  of  the 
State's  credit  by  this  action  of  the  Trustees  almost  essential  to 
such  restoration. 

No  formal  reply  was  given  to  this  communication,  but 
Lieutenant-(}overnor  Stearns  was  distinctly  told  by  some  of  the 
Trustees  that  they  had  directed  the  investment  to  be  made  in 
Florida  bonds,  and  that  it  was  clearly  understood  that  these  bonds 
should  be  the  bonds  of  1873,  so  that  the  purchase  money  would 
come  into  the  Treasury.  This  assurance  Lieutenant-Governor 
Stearns  telegraphed  to  me,  according  to  an  arrangement  made 
between  us  previous  to  my  departure  for  New  York,  where  I  was 
then  engaged  in  redeeming  the  hypothecated  bonds  of  1868-9, 
and  the  information  thus  conveyed  to  me  was  used  by  me  offi- 
cially while  endeavoring  to  place  the  bonds  upon  the  Stock 
P^xchange  of  New  York. 

A  day  or  two  after  I  had  received  the  telegram  from  Lieu^ 
tenant-Governor  Stearns,  General  Varnum,  as  the  Tresurer  and 
Agent  of  the  Board,  appeared  in  New  York  and  informed  me 
that  the  action  of  the  Trustees  in  reference  to  this  investment 
was  a  secrect;  that  the  whole  matter  was  left  in  his  hands  to  be 
acted  upon  at  his  discretion,  and  that  Lieutenant-Governor 
Stearns  could  have  had  no  authority  for  giving  me  the  informa- 
tion. That  he  was  not  prepared  to  say  what  he  would  do — that 
he  desired  to  do  the  best  thing  for  the  College,  and  he  wished  to 
])revent  speculators  from  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
to  sell  their  bonds. 

After  my  return  to  Florida,  which  occurred  on  the  6th  of 
July,  General  Varnum,  in  other  conversations,  by  saying  "that 
all  would  be  right,"  that  he  "had  authority  to  invest,  but  could 
not  say  when  he  would  do  so,  but  that  all  would  be  right,"  and 
by  using  similar  expressions  to  myself  and  other  Cabinet  Officers, 
induced  us  to  rest  perfectly  confident  in  the  belief  that  the  invest- 
ment was  to  be  made  in  the  bonds  of  1873,  and  that  the  money 
would  go  into  the  State  Treasury.  We  could  place  no  other  con- 
struction upon  the  exjiression  "that  all  would  be  right,"  as  we 
were  thinking  and  talking  in  this  connection  of  nothing  but  the 
means  of  appreciating  the  State's  financial  condition. 

I  never  was  more  greatly  surprised  and  grieved  than  when  I 
learned  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  Bayne,  of    New  York    (a  copy  of 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  26  I 

which  is  herewith  enclosed),  that  the  money  had  been  invested 
by  General  Varnum  in  the  purchase  of  bonds  held  and  owned 
by  him  (Mr.  Bayne)  as  his  own'  private  property,  and  to-day  I 
am  informed  that  while  General  Varnum  was  in  New  York  in 
June,  he  then  purchased  50  bonds  for  $40,000  from  Bayne  & 
Co.,  and  contracted  to  purchase  50  more  when  there  mainder  of 
the  Agricultural  College  Scrip  money  should  be  paid  by  Mr. 
Lewis,  while  at  this  time  in  New  York,  and  afterwards  in  Talla- 
hassee, he  informed  me  that  "  he  did  not  know  what  he  should 
do,  but  must  keep  all  a  secret  until  his  mind  was  made  up,"  etc. 

I  can  perfectly  understand  why  the  Trustees  might  feel  it 
to  be  their  duty  to  say  to  the  Comptroller  in  answer  to  his  letter, 
"  we  would  like  to  purchase  the  bonds  from  the  State  so  as  to 
benefit  the  State  Treasury,  but  we  must  purchase  from  those  who 
will  sell  the  cheapest,  therefore  we  will  buy  in  the  open  market 
after  advertising  for  proposals,  but  I  cannot  understand  why, 
after  an  apparently  studied  reticence  on  the  part  of  your  agent, 
every  departure  from  which  only  misled  me  and  other  State 
officers,  whether  so  intended  or  not,  the  money  should  have  been 
invested  in  bonds  owned  by  a  private  individual — no  one  hear- 
ing of  the  transaction  until  its  consummation,  and  no  other  par- 
ties having  a  chance  to  make  a  lower  offer. 

I  think  I  may  with  propriety,  and  therefore  do  ask :  Was 
not  the  State  of  Florida  deserving  of  some  consideration  in  this 
transaction  ?  She  has  acted  liberally  by  providing  that  all  neces- 
sary expenses  of  obtaining  and  investing  this  money  shall  be 
paid  from  the  State  Treasury  (Sec.  11  of  Chap.  1766),  and  I 
think  she  was  entitled  to  a  prompt,  courteous  and  candid  reply 
to  the  communication  made  by  the  Comptroller.  I  have  the 
honor  to  ask  if  the  money  has  been  thus  invested,  and  if  there 
remains  no  chance  for  the  State  to  receive  any  benefit  from  the 
Agricultural  Fund. 

Very  respectfully, 

C.  A.  CowGiLL,    Comptroller. 

On  the  1 2th  of  November,  the  Trustees  acknowledged  the 
reception  of  these  letters,  promising  a  speedy  answer,  and 
requested  that  I  would  furnish  them  with  a  copy  of  the  contract 
made  with  Bayne  &  Co.,  with  which  request  I  promptly  com- 
plied. 


262  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

The  following  letter  from  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  was  sent  to  me  on  December  loth. 

Office  Superintendenj-  of  Puiujc  Instruction,    | 
Tallahassee,  Fla.,  December  10,  1873.      I 

C.  A.  CowGiLL,  Esq.,  Comptroller: 

Sir — Your  communications  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College  bearing  date  November  loth,  were  received,  and  I 
have  been  directed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  place  in  your 
hands  the  entire  action  of  the  Board  in  relation  to  the  subject  of 
your  communications,  which  you  will  find  in  the  annual  report  of 
Trustees  to  His  Excellency,  O.  B.  Hart,  a  copy  of  which  I  will 
furnish  you  at  an  early  day. 

Yours  respectfully, 

JONATHAN  C.   GIBBS, 

President  Board  of  Trustees. 

On  the  17th  of  December,  a  proof  of  this  report  to  the 
Governor  was  furnished  me.  In  it  I  look  in  vain  for  even  an 
allusion  to  my  second  letter  of  November  loth,  in  which  I  state 
how  the  proposals  made  by  me  to  General  Varnum  to  purchase 
bonds  from  the  State  were  received,  and  also  ask  why  the 
purchase  was  not  made  according  to  my  request,  although  a 
copy  of  the  contract  with  Bayne  &  Co.  furnished  to  them  by  me  in 
response  to  their  wishes  is  printed  as  part  of  General  Varnum's 
report  with  other  matter  equally  irrelevant. 

I  am  surprised  to  find  no  assertion  that  the  Trustees 
intended  to  purchase  from  the  State,  as  I  had  always  supposed 
such  to  have  been  their  intention,  as  their  order  to  invest  in  the 
1873  bonds  was  given  in  response  to  my  letter  of  May  17th, 
strengthened  by  the  personal  solicitation  of  yourself  and  others, 
and  quifie  recently  most  of  the  Trustees  have  informed  me  that 
they  had  so  intended  and  supposed  the  bonds  had  been  pur- 
chased from  the  State. 

General  Varnum,  as  agent  of  the  Trustees,  went  to  New 
York,  and  while  there  refused  confidential  communication  with 
me  and  when  the  State  daily  asked  him,  through  the  Comp- 
troller, who,  by  your  permission,  held  exclusive  charge  of  the 
bonds,  to  buy  her  bonds,  gave  no  direct  reply,  and  certainly 
gave  not  the  slighteht  intimation  that  he  was  then  buying  or  had 
bought  from  Bayne  &  Co.  as  the  supposed  agents  of  the  State. 

In  his  report  to  the  'JYustees  of  the  College,  General 
Varnum  says  ''that  Messrs.  Bayne  tS:  Co.  by  contract  with  the 
Comptroller  had  been  authorized  to  make  exclusive  sale  of  the 
new  bonds  until  October  first,"  and  further  that  "  Bayne  &  Co. 
having  in  their  possession  all  of  the  new  bonds  which  had  been 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  263 

issued  or  ready  for  sale  under  the  contract  with  the  Comptroller 
of  the  State,"  etc. 

Both  of  these  assertions  I  deny  most  positively.  The  third 
paragraph  of  the  agreement  made  by  your  Excellency  and  my. 
self  with  Bayne  &  Co.  gives  them  no  control  of  the  bonds.  Its 
only  force  is  a  7noral  obligation  resting  on  Bayne  &  Co.  to  aid 
and  assist  us  in  selling  the  State  bonds,  and  by  reference  to  Mr. 
Bayne's  letter  to  me  of  October  27,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is 
no  claim  on  his  part  that  he  was  acting  for  the  State ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  asserts  that  secrecy  was  an  essential  part  of  the 
agreement  between  General  Varnum  and  their  firm,  that  the 
transaction  was  not  to  be  made  known  to  me,  and  of  course  not 
to  the  State.  Who  ever  before  heard  of  any  one  purchasing 
from  an  agent  and  making  it  a  condition  of  the  sale  that  the 
agent  should  not  inform  his  principal  of  what  had  been  done  ? 

Again,  Mr.  Bayne  did  not  have  in  his  possession  all  the 
bonds  that  were  for  sale.  He  had  only  the  ' '  bonds  "  sold  to 
him.  If  General  Varnum  had  read  article  3  of  the  agreement 
referred  to,  before  he  purchased  the  bonds,  he  would  have  seen 
that  if  Bayne  &  Co.  sold  any  bonds  for  the  State  they  must  be 
paid  for  in  Tallahassee  before  delivery,  and  a  glance  at  the 
numbers  of  the  bonds  delivered  to  him  in  June  by  Bayne  &  Co., 
being  i  to  5  and  126  to  170,  must  have  shown  that  they  were 
part  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  bonds  sold  to  Bayne  &  Co. 

A  circular  is  presented  by  General  Varnum  as  part  of  his 
report  and  called  by  him  "the  circular  of  Bayne  &  Co.  as  State 
Agents  for  sale  of  bonds." 

This  circular  is  not  dated  (perhaps  purposely),  and  contains 
no  assertion  that  it  was  issued  by  Bayne  &  Co.  as  State  Agents. 
I  knew  nothing  of  it  until  a  copy  was  sent  to  me  in  August  or 
September,  two"  or  three  months  after  the  purchase  of  Bayne  & 
Co.'s  own  bonds  by  the  Trustees. 

Mr.  Bloxham  says  in  his  report  to  the  Trustees  detailing  the 
sale  of  the  Land  Scrip,  "one-half  of  the  money,  the  first  pay- 
ment, amounting  to  40,500,  was  paid  down  and  deposited  to  the 
order  of  the  Trustees."  This  being  the  case,  the  reason  of  the 
difficulty  in  collecting  this  money  in  June  spoken  of  by  General 
Varnum  is  not  apparent,  and  it  appears  strange  that  General 
Varnum  did  not  collect  it  himself  when  in  Cleveland  for  that 
purpose. 

Mr.  Bloxham  has  told  me  there  was  no  necessity  that 
General  Varnum  should  have  gone  to  New  York  to  collect  it,  as 
his  check  sent  through  our  bankers  in  Tallahassee  would  have 
brought  the  money  here,  where  the  bonds  of  1873,  belonging  to 
the  State,  could  have  been  obtained. 

Even  in  October,  the  last  instalment  of  $40,000  might  have 


264  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  Fi  ORIDA. 

been  given  to  the  State,  for  there  was  not  the  slightest  necessity 
to  give  Bayne  &  Co.  the  money  and  a  large  bonus  in  addition  in 
order  to  save  it,  as  the  financial  panic  could  not  affect  the  land 
scrip  belonging  to  the  College,  which  had  not  passed  out  of  the 
control  of  the  Trustees,  for  Mr.  Bloxham  says  in  his  report  that 
the  "scrip  unpaid  for  is  deposited  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees  in 
the  Merchants  National  Bank  of  Cleveland,  a  government 
depository,  and  to  be  delivered  to  Mr.  Lewis  only  upon  his  paying 
the  purchase  money  for  the  same.  In  other  words,  we  hold 
possession  of  the  property,  the  very  best  security." 

The  facts  thus  stated  force  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
agent  of  the  Trustees  never  intended  to  purchase  the  bonds  from 
the  State,  and  if  the  Trustees  desired  to  do  so,  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  why  they  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  "for  the  faithful 
and  efiicient  manner  in  which  he  had  carried  out  the  instructions 
of  the  Board." 

'"I  do  not  consider  that  the  report  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Agricultural  College  to  the  Governor  contains  full  and  satisfac- 
tory answers  to  my  communications." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1873.  An  Extract  from  Gov, 
Barfs  Message.  His  Cabinet.  The  Election  of  United  States 
Senator,  and  Acts  of  Bribery.  The  Exposure  of  the  Little- 
field  Fraud  by  Attorney- General  Cocke.  The  State's  Ungrate- 
fulness to  Gov.  Reed.     Miscellaneous. 

Both  branches  of  the  Legislature  met  Tuesday,  January  7, 
1873.     In  the  Senate  there  were  twenty-three  of  the  twenty-four 
members  present— ten  Democrats  and  thirteen  Republicans,  one 
Republican  coming  in   next  day,   which  made  the  Senate  ten 
Democrats  and  fourteen  Republicans.     The  Senate,  after  swear- 
ing  in  the  newly  elected  Senators,  adjourned  until  the  next  day. 
The  next  morning  the  Senate  elected  its  officers,  who  were  all 
Republicans,  and  notified  the  House  of  its  organization.     The 
great  struggle  for  the  supremacy  of  the  ring  was  made  in  the 
House,    where   they   resorted    to    every    artifice   imaginable   to 
secure    the    Speakership.     Colored    men   were    brought    from 
counties  where  the  ring  had  great  influence,  for  the  purpose  of 
exciting  the  masses  of  the  freed  men  around  Tallahassee,  and 
they  were  actually  advised  to  commit  violence  on  any  member 
of  the  Legislature  who  would  not  abide  by  the  caucus  nominee. 
Notwithstand'.ng  the  threatened  violence,  five  Republican  mem- 
bers refused  to  attend  the  caucus.     These  members  were  Bush, 
of  Columbia,    white;    Lee,   of  Sumter,   white;    both   Southern 
Republicans;    Wallace    and    Proctor,    of    Leon,    colored,    and 
Thompson,  of  Columbia,  colored.     The  ring  men  began  to  see 
danger  ahead,  and  word  was  sent  to  the  freedmen  in  the  sur- 
rounding country  that  the  Leon  county  delegation  had  sold  out 
to  the  Democrats.     The  freedmen  were  at  the  State-house  next 
morning  in  large  numbers  denouncing  the  delegation   if  they 
should  dare  vote  against  a  colored  man  for  Speaker,  and  caused 
one   of  the  members  of  the   delegation,    Mr.   W.   G.   Stewart, 
colored,  to  hesitate  and  vote  for  John  R.  Scott.     The  House 
was  called  to  order  by  W.  H.  Gleason,  ex-Lieutenant-Governor, 
and  now  a  member  from   Dade.     The  Assembly  consisted  of 


266  CARPETRAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

twenty-eiglit  Republicans  and  twenty-five  Democrats,  with  two 
Democrats  and  one  Republican  absent.  The  ring  members, 
now  reeling  and  tottering  for  fear,  nominated  John  R.  Scott,  of 
Duval,  colored,  for  the  Speakership.  The  author  of  this  work, 
amid  hisses  and  threats  of  violence,  nominated  S.  B.  Conover  as 
against  Scott.  Conover  received  twenty-eight  votes — the  solid 
Democratic  vote  being  cast  for  him  and  the  five  Republican 
votes  who  refused  to  attend  the  caucus.  Scott  received  twenty 
votes,  and  Conover  was  therefore  declared  elected.  The  scene 
in  the  House,  among  the  members  of  the  ring,  and  anti-ring 
members,  was  almost  indescribable.  The  members  of  the  ring 
were  swearing  and  denouncing  the  Leon  delegation  while  with 
bowed  heads  they  carried  the  news  of  the  disaster  to  their  chief. 
The  anti-ring  members  and  the  Democrats,  both  in  and  outside 
the  Legislature,  were  jubilant,  and  stood  around  in  little  knots 
defying  the  misguided  freedmen,  who  wanted  nothing  but  the 
blood  of  the  Leon  county  delegation.  In  fact,  the  author  of 
this  work  was  menaced  by  a  mob  of  the  freedmen,  who  had  been 
taught  that  they  had  been  sold  out  by  him,  and  but  for  his 
having  been  armed  and  ready  for  this,  his  life  would  have  been 
taken.  The  Assembly  adjourned  until  next  day,  and  then  per- 
fected its  organization  by  electing  a  full  Republican  set  of 
ofilcers.  The  ring  being  satisfied  that  the  election  of  Conover 
Speaker  meant  to  turn  no  member  out  of  the  Legislature  who 
had  been  legally  elected,  held  a  consultation  to  have  the  Com- 
mittee on  Privileges  and  Elections  elected  by  the  Assembly  in 
place  of  by  appointment  of  the  Speaker,  but  the  expediency  of 
this  proposition  was  doubted  by  Osborn,  as  it  would  only  exas- 
perate the  anti-ring  element  and  probably  cause  them  to  vote  for 
a  Democrat  for  the  Senate  rather  than  for  him.  So  this  propo- 
sition was  abandoned,  and  Osborn  proposed  to  await  the 
appointment  of  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  and 
then  capture  it  by  money.  Before  the  committee  was  appointed 
several  petitions  giving  notice  of  contests  were  presented  in 
favor  of  Republicans,  looking  to  unseat  Democratic  members. 
Conover,  who,  knowing  that  great  pressure  would  be  brought  to 
bear  on  the  Republican  members  of  the  committee  to  unseat 
Democrats,    and    that    the    unseating  of   Democratic    members 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  267 

would  defeat  himself  for  the  Senate,  and  elect  Osborn,  was 
much  perplexed  as  to  whom  to  rely  upon  among  the  Repub- 
licans  who  would  withstand  Osborn's  money  and  vote  with  the 
Democratic  minority  of  the  committee.  He  finally  approached 
the  author  of  this  work,  and  said  to  him  that  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  appoint  him  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Privileges 
and  Elections,  and  that  he  hoped  he  would  not  vote  to  unseat 
any  member  of  the  Legislature  who  had  been  honestly  elected. 
The  author  gave  him  to  understand  that  neither  money  nor 
promises  would  cause  him  to  swerve  from  the  path  of  duty. 
Poor  Conover  gave  a  long  sigh  and  departed  On  the  loth 
of  January  the  Assembly  met  at  its  usual  hour,  and  the 
standing  committees  were  announced  by  the  speaker.  The 
Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections  was  Wallace,  of  Leon, 
chairman;  Montgomery,  of  Madison;  McKinnon,  of  Washing- 
ton;  Hannah  and  Elijah — three  Republicans  and  two  Demo- 
crats. The  Democrats  were  well  pleased  with  the  appointment 
of  the  committees,  they  having  the  chairmanship  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee — H.  L.  Mitchell,  of  Hillsborough.  The  ring  now 
saw  that  there  was  work  ahead  to  be  done,  and  they  went  about 
it  w^ith  a  will.  Nothing  of  interest  was  done  for  several  days, 
the  Legislature  awaiting  the  message  from  the  Governor. 

The  message  of  Governor  Hart  was  received  eight  days 
after  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  and  every  one  looked  for  a 
very  able  paper,  more  especially  on  account  of  such  delay.  The 
message,  when  received,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  those  who 
believed  Hart  to  be  an  able  man,  was  the  poorest  and  most 
sickly  State  paper  that  had  ever  been  delivered  to  the  Legisla- 
ture by  any  Governor  of  Florida.  The  most  important  subject 
in  the  message  was  his  reference  to  the  scrip  that  a  former 
Legislature  had  ordered  to  be  destroyed,  some  of  which  found 
its  way  back  into  the  State  treasury  and  was  again  paid.  He 
said:  "I  am  informed  that  there  is  an  uncertain  amount  of  old 
State  scrip  out  that  has  been  paid,  but  is  being  brought  in  and 
paid  again.  Why  it  was  not  cancelled,  when  paid,  how  it  got 
out  of  the  treasury  again,  and  how  much  there  is  of  it  out — 
whether  $10,000,  or  $300,000,  or  $400,000 — is  uncertain.  It 
is  known   that  some  old  scrip  that  was  in  the  office  has  been 


268  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

destroyed  by  burning,  but  I  am  not  informed  how  much." 

The  ring,  though  defeated  in  the  election  of  speaker  of  the 
Assembly,  lost  no  time  in  arranging  Hart's  Cabinet.  They 
insisted  that  no  colored  man  was  fit  for  a  Cabinet  position  but 
Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  and  he,  they  insisted  as  pre-arranged,  had 
attempted  to  count  in  Bloxham,  a  Democrat,  as  against  Hart,  a 
Republican  ;  and  while  some  of  the  more  ignorant  of  the  colored 
brothers  were  loud  in  denunciation  of  Gibbs  for  this  supposed 
treachery,  they  contended  that  if  Gibbs  was  the  only  colored 
man  qualified  for|  a  position  in  the  Cabinet,  he  should  be 
appointed  by  Hart  and  then  watched.  Hart  and  the  ring  pro- 
tested against  this  proposition  until  the  colored  brother  held  a 
caucus  and  demanded  Gibbs'  appointment,  with  a  threat  that 
the  colored  members  would  combine  with  the  Democrats  and 
clog  the  wheels  of  the  administration.  The  colored  of  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature  went  to  Hart  in  a  body  and  in- 
timated their  intention,  whereupon  Hart  became  frightened  and 
conceded  their  demand,  and  Gibbs  was  appointed  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State.  The  yielding  of  this 
point  by  Hart  and  the  ring  was  a  signal  for  the  colored  brother 
to  be  defiant  as  to  Halt's  threat,  thereafter  made,  that  he  would 
use  the  whole  power  of  his  administration  against  any  member 
of  the  Legislature,  for  any  office  or  for  re-election  to  the  Legis- 
lature, who  should  dare  to  vote  for  any  one  for  United  States 
Senator  whom  he,  Hart,  considered  not  in  full  accord  with  his 
administration,  which  was  then  wholly  controlled  by  Osborn  and 
his  ring.  The  balance  of  the  Cabinet  consisted  of  Samuel  B. 
McLin,  Secretary  of  State;  Charles  Foster,  Treasurer;  C.  A. 
Cowgill,  Comptroller;  William  Archer  Cocke,  Attorney-General; 
Dennis  Eagan,  Commissioner  of  Lands  and  Immigration,  and 
John  Varnum,  Adjutant-General.  The  Cabinet  was  a  very  fair 
one,  wiih  the  exception  of  McLin,  who  was  a  deserter  from  the 
rebel  army,  and  being  self-condemned  for  his  own  treachery  for 
having  volunteered  in  the  Confederate  service  and  then  deserted 
before  he  smelled  gunpowder,  he  was  satisfied  that  neither  the 
Democrats  nor  the  carpetbaggers  cared  to  trust  him,  and  he  was 
therefore  the  tool  of  the  most  rabid  and  unprincipled  members 
of  the  carpetbag  dynasty  of  the  State. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  269 

Osborn  and  his  ring  followers,  convinced  by  the  independ- 
ent action  of  the  colored  members  of  the  Legislature  in  demand- 
ing the  appointment  of  Gibbs,  that  they  would  have  hard  work 
to  secure  permanently  any  considerable  number  of  them  to  vote 
for  Osborn,  began  open  bribery  to  carry  their  project  through. 
There  were  three  caucuses  held  every  night  until  the  Senator 
was  elected.  Osborn  and  his  bribe  offerers  assembled  nightly  at 
the  old  City  Hotel,  and  reported  to  each  other  what  progress  was 
being  made  to  secure  votes  for  the  chief,  and  to  devise  other 
plans  that  might  be  a  sort  of  auxiliary  to  the  main  plan  of 
bribery.  S.  B.  Conover  and  his  followers  held  nightly  caucuses 
over  the  old  bar  room  once  run  by  Scott,  while  spies  were  sent  to 
the  Osborn  den  who  reported  nightly  what  was  done  and  said  in 
the  Osborn  caucuses.  The  Democrats  held  nightly  caucuses  in 
the  Capitol,  and  some  of  them  reported  nightly  to  Conover  and 
his  caucus  what  had  taken  place  and  what  was  said  by  the  Dem- 
ocrats. The  Osborn  managers  having  convicted  C.  H.  Pearce 
for  bribery,  and  expecting  that  Pearce  would  make  this  the  op- 
portunity to  get  even  with  them,  contrived  a  new  plan  of  bribery 
in  which  they  could  not  be  detected.  Before  the  voting  for  Sen- 
ator commenced  some  of  Osborn's  leading  strikers  would  place 
in  the  hands  of  such  colored  members  as  they  thought  money 
could  control,  an  envelope  sealed,  saying  at  the  same  time, 
*'Take  this,  I  know  it  will  do  you  some  good."  After  the  re- 
cipient had  had  a  reasonable  time  to  open  the  envelope  and  count 
the  money,  the  fellow  who  gave  it  would  have  occasion  to  run  on 
him  again  and  engage  in  the  praise  of  Osborn,  winding  up  by 
expressing  the  hope  that  the  recipient  would  vote  for  him  when 
it  became  necessary  to  secure  his  election.  These  sealed  envel- 
opes generally  contained  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred  dollars.  If  the  member  was  very  influential  this  dose 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  would  be  repeated,  and  if  that  did  not 
get  the  patient  in  such  condition  as  to  enable  him  to  talk  Os- 
born, a  third  dose  was  given  sufficiently  large  to  double  the 
other  two.  This  would  enable  the  patient  to  vote  for  and  talk 
Osborn  for  some  considerable  time  ;  but  it  will  be  seen  hereafter 
that  these  double  doses  did  not  effect  a  permanent  restoration  to 
Osborn.     Conover  and  the  notorious  Fred  Dockray  had  entered 


270  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

into  an  agreement  that  one  or  the  other  should  be  elected  to  the 
Senate.  Dockray  had  lots  of  the  Government  money,  which  he 
had  stolen  while  Collector  of  Customs  at  the  port  of  Jackson- 
ville, which  he  was  using  lavishly  to  secure  the  election  of  him- 
self or  Conover,  and  Osborn  had  all  he  could  do  for  some  time 
to  hold  the  colored  members  whom  he  had  secured  through  con- 
quest of  money  in  the  different  counties.  After  Dockray  saw 
there  was  really  no  chance  for  himself  he  told  Conover  he  must 
hold  up  as  he  saw  no  way  of  getting  his  money  back!  This  was 
a  gala  time  for  the  colored  brother,  and  those  of  Osborn's  strikers 
whose  pockets  had  suffered  famine  for  want  of  fat  P>deral  offices. 
The  first  Senatorial  caucus  held  by  the  ring  revealed  the  fact  that 
Osborn  had  been  ''weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting." 
and  that  those  whom  he  had  confidently  relied  upon  to  support 
him  were  voting  for  some  one  else.  Another  discouraging  feat- 
ure of  the  general  caucus  was  the  absence  of  some  Republican 
members  who  would  never  attend  the  Osborn  or  general  caucus. 
The  ring,  after  failing  in  their  attempt  to  force  these  Republican 
members  into  the  caucus,  turned  their  attention  to  the  Committee 
on  Privileges  and  Elections.  They  planned  to  turn  seven  Dem- 
ocrats out  of  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature  and  put  in 
seven  men — be  they  Democrats  or  Republicans — whether 
elected  or  not,  who  would  promise  to  vote  for  Osborn  first  and 
last  after  being  seated.  They  set  the  masses  of  the  colored  men 
around  Tallahassee  at  work  to  intimidate  those  Republican  mem- 
bers of  the  Committee  who  were  not  inclined  to  unseat  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  to  secure  the  election  of  Osborn.  The 
freedmen  were  told  that  the  Democrats  whose  seats  were  con- 
tested were  "  Ku-Klux"  and  held  their  seats  at  the  price  of  in- 
nocence of  negroes,  and  that  any  negro  who  would  refuse  to  un- 
seat them  ought  to  be  mobbed  or  secretly  murdered.  A  band  of 
freedmen  was  regularly  employed  to  follow,  watch  and  brow- 
beat the  chairman  of  the  committee,  who,  at  every  meeting  of 
the  committee,  had  voted  with  the  two  Democrats  to  postpone 
the  report  until  after  the  Senatorial  contest.  The  committee  had 
examined  the  testimony  in  each  contest  and  found  that  there  was 
no  testimony  on  which  to  base  a  real  contest ;  that  the  contests 
had  been  gotten  up  solely  in  the  interest  of  Osborn.     The  chair- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA.  27  I 

man  of  the  committee  deemed  it  advisable  to  be  accompanied  by 
friends  in  going  to  and  from  the  Conover  caucuses  at  night,  and 
often  passed  the  employed  band  of  freedmen,  who  uttered  curses 
and  threatenings  against  him  for  not  having  unseated  Democrats 
and  put  in  ''  'Publicans."  The  Osborn  jacobins  at  this  juncture 
were  desperate,  and  seemed  willing  to  commit  almost  any  crime 
to  secure  the  election  of  their  chief ;  and  they  now  having  ex- 
hausted all  the  fury  of  threats  and  intimidation  on  the  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections  to  no  advantage 
concluded  to  change  the  base  of  operations  and  to  attack  him 
with  moral  suasion — promises  of  money  and  property.  Honest 
W.  K.  Cessna,  of  impeachment  notoriety,  w^as  appointed  by 
Osborn  to  use  money  and  promises,  and  O.  Morgan  was  ap- 
pointed to  use  property.  W.  H.  Gleason  had  specific  work  laid 
out  for  him.  Under  the  Osborn  Constitution  the  Seminole  In- 
dians in  the  Southern  part  of  the  State  were  entitled  to  one  rep- 
resentative in  each  branch  of  the  Legislature.  As  the  Seminoles 
reside  mostly  in  the  counties  of  Dade  and  Monroe,  and  as 
Gleason  was  then  a  member  from  the  county  of  Dade,  and  was 
supposed  to  know  many  of  the  members  of  the  tribe,  he  was  to 
bring  a  man  from  somewhere,  with  high  cheek  bones,  tall  and 
dark-skinned,  and  represent  him  as  belonging  to  the  Indian 
tribe. 

At  the  proper  time  the  man  was  brought  before  the  com- 
mittee and  introduced  by  Gleason  as  J.  King,  one  of  the  Semi- 
nole Indians  from  the  everglades.  It  was  very  amusing  to  see 
this  fellow  trying  to  act,  look  and  talk  Indian.  The  committee 
could  not  understand  anything  he  said,  but  Gleason  talked  for 
him.  It  was  evident  to  the  committee  that  the  fellow  was 
either  a  cracker  from  some  of  the  southern  counties,  or  that  he  was 
picked  up  about  Jacksonville  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  and  was 
well  paid  for  his  attempt  to  simulate  an  Indian.  It  was  some 
few  days  before  the  committee  reported  on  the  case  of 
the  Indian,  and  he  seemed  to  be  very  anxious  for  ad- 
mission. This  white  Indian  one  day  approached  the  chair- 
man of  the  committee  and  said  to  him  m  good  English  that  he 
would  give  him  twenty  dollars  to  report  in  his  favor.  The  chair- 
man thereupon  inquired  of  him  could  he  not  talk  more  English. 


272  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

He  said  "No,  that  would  be  known."  The  chairman  gave  him 
to  understand  that  he  cared  nothing  for  his  twenty  dollars,  but 
that  the  committee  would  report  in  a  few  days.  Of  course  the 
committee  reported  against  him,  and  sent  him  home. 
Up  to  this  time  the  chairman  of  the  committee  had  not  been 
directly  approached  on  the  subject  of  unseating  Democrats  for 
money.  Honest  Cessna  now  goes  about  his  worR.  The  contest 
for  Senator  was  waxing  warm,  and  the  ring  saw  no  way  to  steer 
clear  of  defeat.  John  E.  Proctor,  one  of  the  rebellious  members 
from  Leon  county  was  given  seven  hundred  dollars  by  one  of 
the  Osborn  managers  to  be  used  to  influence  the  chairman  to 
report  in  favor  of  the  contestants.  Proctor  took  the  money  and 
bought  two  mules  for  his  farm  and  requested  the  chairman  to 
stand  his  ground.  Cessna,  thinking  that  the  seven  hundred 
had  somewhat  softened  the  heart  of  the  chairman,  waited  until 
the  Lord's  day  to  make  his  last  grand  effort  to  elect  Osborn  to 
the  Senate.  He  quietly  rej^aired  to  the  residence  of  the  chair- 
man and  requested  a  private  interview.  He  presented  the  fol- 
lowing proposition:  That  the  Republican  members  of  the  com- 
mittee should  unseat  William  Peeler,  of  Clay  county,  Democrat, 
and  seat  Henry  Brown,  a  Republican;  unseat  W.  W.  Harkins, 
of  Lafayette  county,  Democrat,  and  seat  William  D.  Sears,  Re- 
publican; unseat  Joshua  H.  Lee,  of  Hamilton  county,  Demo- 
crat, and  seat  James  Burnan,  Republican;  unseat  Emory  Vann, 
of  Taylor  county.  Democrat,  and  seat  Mark  Richardson,  Repub- 
lican; unseat  Samuel  Hope,  of  Hernando  county,  Democrat,  and 
seat  Authur  St.  Clair,  Republican;  and  seat  J.  King,  the  Semi- 
nole Lidian.  If  this  proposition  was  consented  to  by  the  chair- 
man, he  was  to  receive  one  thousand  dollars,  which  amount  was 
counted  out  to  him  by  Cessna  in  hundred  dollar  packages  and 
shaken  in  his  face,  with  the  promise  of  any  office  that  he  should 
desire.  This  amount  of  money  to  a  poor  man  was  very  hard  to 
refuse;  but  the  chairman,  remembering  the  promise  he  had  made 
to  the  white  friends  who  had  prevented  his  being  swindled  out  of 
his  election,  informed  Cessna  that  the  testimony  in  these  cases 
would  not  sustain  such  action  on  the  part  of  the  committee. 
Cessna  also  informed  the  chairman  that  O.  Morgan  desired  to 
see  him  Monday  morning.     Before  the  meeting  of  the  Legisla- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  273 

ture  on  Monday,  Morgan  met  the  chairman  and  wanted  to  know 
whether  he  had  seen  Mr.  Cessna  or  not,  and  was  answered  in 
the  affirmative.  Morgan  asked  if  their  meeting  was  satisfactory, 
and  if  so,  he  desired  to  say  that  the  large  house  just  behind  the 
City  Hotel  was  his  property,  and  that  he  would  give  him  clear 
title  to  the  same.  The  chairman  had  now  become  threadbare, 
and  he  informed  Morgan  that  neither  money  nor" property  would 
change  his  opinion  as  to  those  contests.  The  house  and  lot 
which  was  thrown  into  the  attempted  bargain  was  valued  at 
three  thousand  dollars.  Conover,  who  had  learned  of  these 
negotiations,  became  very  much  alarmed,  and  from  that 
time  to  the  end  of  the  contest  the  chairman,  for  the  most  of  his 
time  when  he  was  not  asleep,  was  honored  with  the  presence  of 
the  vigilant  doctor.  At  one  stage  of  the  contest  a  false  alarm 
got  out  that  the  chairman  had  yielded  to  the  tempter,  and  Cono- 
ver came  rushing  to  him  almost  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  said: 
"My  whole  fortune  is  in  your  hands,  and  if  you  go  back  on  me 
by  turning  Democrats  out  of  the  Legislature,  who  were  legally 
elected,  it  will  be  looked  upon  as  my  act,  as  you  are  my  friend, 
which  will  drive  every  Democrat  from  me.  Do  you  want  any 
money?"  The  chairman  told  him  if  he  had  any  money  to  spend 
to  go  and  buy  those  who  desired  to  sell;  that  he  should  stand 
firm  without  money.  This  answer  certainly  lightened  the  bur- 
den on  Conover's  heart,  and  he  went  flying  to  other  parts  of  the 
battlefield  to  use  the  money  where  it  would  do  the  most  good. 
The  ring  having  failed  to  get  up  a  contest  in  Brevard  county, 
by  any  RepubUcan,  A.  D.  Johnson  was  brought  forth  to  con- 
test the  seat  of  Robert  A.  Harden,  Democrat.  Both  these  men 
were  Democrats,  but  the  ring  had  made  a  bargain  with  Johnson 
that  they  would  seat  him  if  he  would  promise  to  vote  for  Osborn. 
Johnson  promised  to  do  this,  and  so  they  attempted  to  seat  him. 
It  will  be  seen  that  they  desired  to  unseat  six  legally  elected 
members  and  put  in  one  white  man  as  an  Indiah,  which  would 
give  the  ring  seven  votes  for  Osborn  independent  of  the  five 
votes  from  Leon  and  two  from  Columbia  county  who  would  not 
be  brought  to  Osborn's  support.  The  ring,  after  being  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  they  could  not  capture  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  called  a  meeting  in  the 


274  CARPET15AG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

City  Hotel,  at  which  M.  L.  Stearns  presided.  At  this  meeting  it 
was  decided  that  all  the  members  of  the  ring  should  vote  for 
James  D.  Westcott,  jr.  for  Senator,  under  the  understanding 
with  Westcott  that  if  elected  they  who  voted  for  him  should  have 
the  offices— in  other  words  the  bargain  was  that  the  Osborn  con- 
spirators should  control  the  Federal  offices.  By  some  means  this 
news  was  communicated  to  Capt.  Charles  E.  Dyke,  then  editor 
of  the  Flo7'idian.  The  news  v>^as  brought  to  Dyke  by  one  of  the 
Democratic  members,  who  thought' this  a  good  thing.  Dyke 
went  to  work  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  this  bargain  for 
the  reason,  he  said,  that  it  would  be  a  dangerous  thing  to  have 
a  smart  man  like  Westcott  go  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  the 
interest  of  a  corrupt  ring.  Those  Republicans  who  had  sworn 
vengeance  against  Osborn  had  made  up  their  minds  to  vote  for 
William  D.  Bloxham  before  they  would  see  Westcott  elected  by 
the  ring,  and  Bloxham  would  have  been  elected  had  it  not  been 
for  Dyke,  who  used  his  influence  in  favor  of  Conover.  When 
Dyke  came  to  Conover's  rescue  he  had  given  up  the  fight  for 
himself,  but  was  trying  to  hold  his  friends  together  to  get  them 
off  his  hands  to  the  highest  bidder.  His  colored  friends  did  not 
propose  to  be  disposed  of  in  that  way,  and  so  they  had  a  talk 
with  Bloxham,  and  without  any  promises  from  him  promised  to 
vote  for  him  if  so  casting  their  votes  would  elect  him.  This 
proposition  was  mide  to  Bloxham  the  night  previous  to  the  elec- 
tion. Dyke's  work  had  been  so  thoroughly  cemented  the  night 
before,  and  the  colored  brother,  who  had  made  all  he  could 
out.  of  Osborn  and  the  whole  concern,  had  become  weary  of  the 
nighdy  whisky,  oyster,  and  cigar  festivities,  brought  the  contest 
to  a  close  on  the  31st  day  of  January,  after  a  struggle  of  eleven 
days,  during  which  time  there  had  been  twenty-one  ballots. 
The  last  day  of  the  voting  for  Senator  the  members  of  the  ring 
became  greatly  excited,  and  every  exertion  was  made  by  them  to 
prevent  the  election.  Just  before  the  voting  commenced  one 
of  them  rushed  to  W.  G.  Stewart,  one  of  the  members  from  Leon 
county,  and  crowded  an  envelope  filled  with  money  into  his 
hand  and  requested  him  to  use  it  as  he  pleased.  Stewart,  being 
one  of  those  members  who  would  not  take  money  for  his  vote, 
undertook  to  hand  it  back  to  him,  but  he  would  not   receive  it. 


CARPETBAG   RULE  IN   KLUklDA.  275 

Stewart  threw  the  envelope  on  the  ground,  whereupon  the  briber 
told  him  he  was  a  crazy  man,  picked  up  the  envelope  and  put  it 
in  his  pocket.  Proctor,  who  had  appropriated  seven  hundred 
dollars  of  Osborn's  money,  learning  of  the  desire  of  this  briber 
to  give  away  money,  requested  Stewart  to  inform  him  that  he, 
Proctor,  would  take  all  the  money  he  had  to  give  away;  but 
Proctor's  light  for  Osborn  had  been  hid  under  a  bushel  and 
could  not  be  trusted  further.  The  joint  session  met  at  the  usual 
hour,  and  it  was  evident  to  every  one  that  some  great  catastro- 
phe was  to  take  place,  as  the  ring  men  and  anti-ring  men  were 
now  at  swords  points.  The  first  conflict  of  words  was  indulged 
in  by  Chadwick,  of  Putnim,  white  carpetbagger,  and  W.  G. 
Stewart,  colored,  of  Leon.  Chadwick  was  denouncing  the  col- 
ored men  who  were  voting  with  the  Democrats  for  Conover,  and 

Stewart  in  return  denounced  him  for  a  nigger-hating 

On  this  day  there  were  five  ballots  taken,    some  member 


of  the  ring  moving  to  adjourn  at  the  close  of  every 
ballot;  but  the  joint  assembly  refused  to  adjourn.  On 
the  fifth  ballot  John  R.  Scott,  of  Duval,  who  had  also  worked 
Osborn's  pocket  for  all  it  was  worth,  now  rose  and  denounced 
Osborn  and  his  ring  followers  and  exposed  in  the  open  Assembly 
the  bargain  between  Westcott  and  the  ring.  Horatio  Jenkins, 
on  the  part  of  the  ring,  defended  Osborn  and  the  combination 
which  they  had  entered  into,  and  reminded  the  Democrats  that 
this  was  (meaning  Scott)  part  of  the  Chinese  thunder  from  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1868,  and  intimated  that  the  elec- 
tion of  Conover  meant  negro  supremacy.  Scott  was  applauded  by 
the  anti-ring  men  and  Democrats,  which  showed  that  the  death 
knell  of  the  ring  had  been  sounded,  while  Jenkins  drove  the 
remaining  colored  members  who  had  previously  opposed  Cono- 
ver to  his  support.  This  was  amfdst  the  calling  of  the  roll,  and 
the  greatest  excitement  prevailed,  and  when  tally  keepers  of  the 
Osborn-Westcott  combination  perceived  that  Conover  had  re- 
ceived the  necessaay  number  of  votes,  their  pencils  fell  from 
their  hands  as  though  they  had  a  paralytic  stroke.  M.  L. 
Stearns,  now  Lieutenant-Governor,  who  by  virtue  of  his  office 
presided  over  the  joint  assembly,  now  undertook  to  use  his  oflfi- 
cial  power  to  cheat  the  representatives  of  the  people  out  of  their 


276  CARPETnAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

victory  over  the  ring.  Senator  John  A.  Henderson,  who  had 
not  voted  for  Conover,  waited  to  hear  what  Stearns  had  to  say. 
Stearns  then  said  that  there  was  some  mistake,  and  suggested  a 
re-call  of  the  roll,  while  members  of  the  ring  began  to  move 
around  among  the  members  for  the  purpose  of  bribery,  if  possi- 
ble. Senator  Henderson  arose  and  said:  "This  man  has  been 
fairly  elected,  and  I  demand  fair  play."  Stearns  soon  saw  what 
would  follow,  and  declared  Conover  elected  Senator.  When 
the  result  of  the  vote  was  declared  the  scene  in  the  joint  assem- 
bly was  indescribable;  anti-ring  Republicans  and  Democrats 
who  had  voted  against  Westcott  could  be  seen  and  heard  shout- 
ing and  shaking  hands  over  their  victory,  while  the  members  of 
the  ring,  both  in  and  out  of  the  Legislature,  seemed  awe-strick- 
en and  utterly  demoralized.  This  ended  the  Senatorial  contest 
in  Florida  in  the  year  1873.  It  will  be  seen  that  nineteen  col- 
ored members  could  not  be  controlled  by  the  carpetbaggers  to 
support  Westcott,  and  voted  for  Conover.  The  remaining  six 
of  the  twenty-five  colored  members  voted  scattering. — See  Jour- 
nal of  Joint  Assembly,  1873,  page  132. 

After  the  election  of  Senator  the  members  of  the  ring,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  crippling  Conover's  influence  at  Washington, 
and  not  for  the  purpose  of  purifying  elections  of  any  kind — for 
they  were  utterly  incapable  of  that — had  a  resolution  adopted 
by  the  Assembly  to  investigate  the  reports  of  bribery  of  mem- 
bers in  voting  for  United  States  Senator.  They  attempted  to 
pack  the  committee  by  having  it  elected,  thinking  they  might 
be  successful  in  bribing  colored  members  enough  to  enable  them 
to  so  shape  the  report  as  not  to  implicate  the  bribed  members, 
while  it  should  work  to  the  injury  of  Conover.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Conover  did  use  some  money  to  secure  his  election, 
but  the  real  wholesale  bribery  was  carried  on  under  the  auspices 
of  the  members  of  the  ring.  Chadwick,  of  Putnam,  carpetbag- 
ger, who  had  voted  for  the  iron-handed  Bisbee  for  United  States 
Senator,  but  who  was  ready  to  vote  for  Westcott  whenever  his 
vote  would  elect,  was  put  forward  to  get  this  resolution  through. 
The  anti-ring  members  and  the  Democrats  at  once  saw  the 
dodge,  and  united  to  elect  a  committee  who  would  expose  all 
persons  on  whom  they  could  get  any  clue  who  had  attempted  or 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  277 

had  been  successful  in  offering  or  guilty  of  receiving  a  bribe. 
M.  W.  Downie,  a  striker  for  General  Sanford,  appeared  before 
the  committee  and  testified  that  Dockray  had  given  Conover 
money  at  different  times,  wl^ich  Conover  had  spent  in  the  Sena- 
torial contest;  at  the  time  Westcott  and  the  ring  were  making 
their  greatest  fight  Conover  had  gotten  from  Dockray  eight  hun- 
dred  dollars,  which  Conover  divided  into  one  hundred  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollar  packages  and  put  these  packages  of 
money  into  envelopes  to  give  to  members  of  the  Legislature  to 
prevent  them  from  voting  for  Westcott.  When  Dockray  was 
called  he  admitted  having  loaned  Conover  money,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  know  how  much.  He  said  Conover  put  the  money 
in  three  or  four  packages  and  put  it  in  envelopes,  and  that  he 
remarked  to  him  at  the  time  that  he  hoped  Westcott  would  be 
defeated.  When  Conover  was  called  he  said  that  he  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  lending  money  to  members  of  the  Legislature 
while  he  was  -State  Treasurer,  and  he  had  loaned  some  money  to 
members  of  the  Legislature  at  this  session.  The  committee  be- 
ing  convinced  that  it  was  useless  to  undertake  to  prove  bribery 
by  bribe-givers  and  bribe-takers,  reported  that  they  could  find 
no  sufficient  testimony  upon  which  to  spot  the  guilty  parties. 

The  assembly,  forced  through  the  clamoring  of  the  people, 
passed  a  resolution  relative  to  the  disposition  of  the  four  mil- 
lions of  bonds  issued  in  aid  of  the  J.,  P.,  &  M.,  railroad.  Attor- 
ney-General WiUiam  Archer  Cocke  sent  the  following  communi- 
cation to  the  Govenor,  who  forwarded  the  same  to  each  House 
of  the  Legislature  : 

''Having  observed  in  the  proceedings  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  that  a  resolution  of  inquiry  relative  to  the  four 
millions  of  state  bonds  issued  in  aid  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pensa- 
cola  &  Mobile  Railroad  Company  has  been  referred  to  the 
House  Committee  on  Railroads,  I  desire  to  lay  before  your  Ex- 
cellency matters  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  from 
sources  deemed  to  be  reliable,  relative  to  the  disposition  made 
and  proposed  to  be  made  of  such  bonds,  which  in  my  opinion, 
show  that  immediate  action  is  needed  on  the  part  of  the  govern, 
ment  of  the  State  to  protect  its  interest,  and  to  prevent,  if  possi- 


278  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA. 

ble,  the  entire  loss  of  the  funds  provided  by  law  in  aid  of  the 
railroad.     I  send  herewith  a  newspaper  which  contains  an    ac- 
count stated  to  have  been   made  by  S.   W.  Hopkins  &  Co.,  of 
New  York,  which  account,    I  am  informed,   contains  in  many 
respects  correct  statements  of  payments  made  by  said  firm,  by 
order  of  officers  of  the  railroad  company,  from  money  received 
by  Hopkins  &  Co.    from  John  CoUinson,  of  London,  for  2,800  of 
the  State  bonds  which  Hopkins  &  Co.,  when  acting  as  agents  of 
the  raih'oad  company,  sold  to  him.     A  portion  of  the  amounts 
charged  in  the  account,  I  am  informed,  has  never  been  paid.     I 
am  not,  of  course,  able  to  state  with  prescision  what  were  the 
actual  payments  made  by  Hopkins  &  Co.   out  of  the  funds,  but 
to  the  best  of  my  information  it  exceeds  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars.     Of  this  large  amount  I  am  satisfied,   from  examination 
of  the  items  in  the  account,   not  more   than    one   hundred    and 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  were  applied    to    the    equipment, 
construction  or  repair  of  the  railroad.     A  large  sum,  about  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars,   I  am  informed  was  paid  to  parties 
from  whom  Milton  S.  Littlefield  purchased  shares  of  stock  in 
the  Florida  Central  Railroad,  and  which  stock  he  claims   to  be 
his  property.     About  fifty  thousand   dollars   was  paid  to  Aaron 
Barnett  on  a  contract  made  with  him,  by  the  said  Littlefield,  rel- 
ative to  the  navigation  and  trade  of  the  Chattahooche  river,   and 
for  steamboats.     Fifty  thousand  dollars  were  paid  to   a  certain 
railroad  in  North  Carolina  on  account  of  a  large  claim  made  by 
it  against  said  Littlefield.     One  hundred  and  four  thousand  dol- 
lars were  paid  to  J.  B.    Clarke,  the  brother-in-law  of  Littlefield, 
part  of  which  was  on  account  of  a  judgement  obtained  by    the 
United   States   against   the   Pensacola    and    Georgia   railroad. 
Fifty  thousand  dollars  were  paid  to  G  .W.   Swepson,  and  about 
twenty    thousand     dollars     to    a    Tennessee    bank,     both    of 
which    payments    were    on    account  of  private  transactions  of 
said    Littlefield.      I    have    specified    the    foregoing   amounts    of 
money  misai)propriated,  basing  the  statement  on  particular  and 
reliable  information  as  to  the  remaining  sums  charged  in  the  ac- 
count, whether  paid  or  unpaid.     I  am  informed    that    there  are 
likewise  unjustifiable  demands  against   the  board    fund,   arising 
out  of  transactions  foreign  to  the  purposes  for  which  the  bonds 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  279 

were  issued.  It  will  be  observed  by  the  Legislature,  upon  ex. 
amination  of  the  account,  that  Hopkins  &  Co.  admit  a  sale  by 
them  of  2,800  bonds.  The  amount  for  which  they  give  credit 
on  this  account  is  nine  hundred  and  ninety-seven  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  twenty  dollars ;  the  amount  stated  as  received 
per  bond,  one  hundred  pounds  sterHng ;  from  this  was  deducted 
ten  pounds  per  bond  for  commissions,  making  on  2,800  bonds 
twenty-eight  thousand  pounds  sterling — about  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  dollars.  There  also  was  deducted  twenty-four 
pounds  per  bond — sixty-seven  thousand  two  hundred  pounds, 
about  three  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars,  which  amount 
was  deposited  in  London  to  meet  the  first  three  instalments  of 
interest.  It  thus  appears  from  the  account,  taking  the  price  at 
which  the  bonds  are  stated  to  have  been  sold  as  correct  (which 
will  hereafter  appear  not  to  be  so)  that  the  amount  received  for 
2,800  bonds  equalled  one  milHon  four  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars ;  and  yet  the  total  credit  given  in  the  account  is  nine  hun- 
dred and  ninety-seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty  dol- 
lars ;  a  subtraction  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  equal  to 
thirty-four  per  cent,  of  the  amount  for  which  the  bonds  are 
stated  to  have  been  sold.  Disastrous  as  the  above  transaction 
may  appear,  there  had  taken  place  another  shave  by  Hopkins 
&  Co.  They  received,  in  fact  from,  CoUinson  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  pounds  sterling  per  bond,  instead  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds,  equal  to  one  million  nine  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  dollars  more  than  the  net  amount  for  which  credit 
was  given  by  them,  and  five  hundred  and  thirty  ahousand  dol- 
lars more  than  the  sum  of  money  which  Hopkins  &  Co. ,  in  the 
account  stated  as  the  net  amount  received  by  them  for  the 
bonds. 

'Tt  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  a  letter  signed  M.  S.  Lit- 
tlefield,  dated  in  London,  November  14,  1870,  that  he  offered 
to  sell  the  bonds  to  Hopkins  &  Co.  for  one  hundred  pounds 
per  bond.  They,  H.  &  Co.,  allege  they  had  a  right  to  credit 
the  bonds  in  their  account  at  that  rate  because  of  this  offer, 
which  they  assert  they  accepted  and  acted  on.  Collinson  states 
in  a  bill  in  chancery,  filed  by  him  against  Hopkins  &  Co.,  that 
his  contract  for  purchase  of  the  bonds  had  been  already  com- 


2So  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FI>ORIDA. 

pleted  when  Littlefield  wrote  the  letter  above  stated;  that  Little- 
field  knew  the  fact;  and  it  also  appears,  by  a  sworn   statement 
made  by  Hopkins  &  Co.,  that  they  did  not  accept  Littlefield's 
offer  until  two  months  after  they  had  made  the  sale  to  Collinson. 
"Twelve  hundred  of  the  four  thousand  bonds  remained  in 
the  hands  of  Hopkins  &  Co.. in  October,  187 1,  and  are  specified 
in  a  deed  of  trust  made  by  the  company  to  F.  H.  Flagg  and  C. 
L.  Chase,  and  are  hereby  conveyed  in  trust  to  be  applied  solely 
to  the  construction  of  the  unfinished  portion  of  the  road.     These 
trustees  laid  before   the  members  of  the  Legislature   at  its  last 
session  a  letter  signed  by  them,  in  which   they  submit  extracts 
from  this  deed,  state  the  objects  of  it,  and  assert  that  up  to  that 
time  they  had  not  received  any  money  from   the  sales   of  the 
bonds.     This   was  true  at  that  time.     Since   then  C.  L.   Chase, 
one  of  said  trustees,  obtained  a  power  of  attorney  from  the  offi- 
cers of  the  railroad  company,   and  under  it  placed  one  hundred 
and  ninety  of  the  bonds  in  the  hands  of  L.  P.  Bayne,  of  New 
York,  giving  at  same  time  Hopkins  &  Co.  a  release  of  all  lia- 
bility to  the  railroad  company,  as  a  means  of  obtaining  posses- 
sion of  said  bonds,  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  of  which  Chase 
sold  to  Collinson,  and  paid  to  Bayne  about  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  gold  from  proceeds,  to  be  credited  by  Bayne   on 
an  account  which  he  sets  up  against  the  railroad  for  damages, 
amounting  to  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,   for   a  breach   of 
contract,  made  by  Littlefield  with  him,  by  which  Bayne  was  to 
be  employed  to  sell  the  bonds.     This  claim  Chase  liquidated  at 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand   dollars,  and  secured  to  Bayne 
the  one  hundred  and  ninety  bonds.      Chase,  also,    as  attorney, 
agreed,  in  addition  to  the  cash  paid  to  Bayne,  to  secure  him  out 
of  the  future  sales  of  such  of  the  one  thousand  two  hundred 
bonds  as  he   might  get  possession  of,  a  further  sum  sufficient  to 
make  up  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty^  thousand  dollars. 
Chase,    as  agent  of  the  road,  also  agreed  to  pay  Bayne  from  the 
sales  of  the  bonds,    and  from  other   resources  belonging   to  the 
railroad,  a  further  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, which  Bayne  claimed  he  had  advanced  to  Littlefield  for  the 
purposes  of  the  railroad,   and  for  which  he  had  in  possession 
about  four  hundred   thousand  dollars  of  State  bonds,  called  six 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  281 

per  cent,  bonds,  as  collateral,  which  bonds  Bayne  has  been 
pressing  the  Legislature  to  redeem  for  several  years,  and  his 
debt  has  been  represented  by  those  who  supported  his  request, 
as  a  debt  due  by  the  State  for  money  advanced  by  Bayne  for  the 
benefit  of  the  State.  Chase,  also,  as  attorney  for  the  road, 
agreed  with  the  agents  of  the  Western  Division  of  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad,  to  apply  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  1,200  bonds  so  remaining 
unsold,  whenever  payment  therefor  should  be  received  from 
CoUinson,  to  pay  towards  a  debt  due  by  Littlefield  to  said  road. 
The  balance  of  said  debt  he  agreed  should  be  secured  and  paid 
by  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  in  like  man- 
ner as  was  agreed  for  the  payment  to  Bayne. 

"The  debt  claimed  by  the  North  Carolina  Railroad  to  be 
due  to  it  by  littlefield,  arose  out  of  his  connection  and  that  of 
George  W.  Swepson  with  the  business  of  said  road.  Littlefield 
has  been  indicted  in  North  Carolina  on  account  of  his  acts  as 
President  of  such  road.  He  was  demanded  of  your  predecessor 
by  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  but  owing,  as  I  am  in- 
formed, to  certain  proceedings  in  our  State  courts,  he  was  not 
delivered  up. 

''C.  L.  Chase,  acting  under  the  power  of  attorney,  given  to 
him  by  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad,  and 
also  in  his  capacity  as  trustee  u^ider  the  deed  of  trust,  united  in 
New  York  in  November  or  December  last,  with  the  agents  of 
the  North  Carolina  Railroad,  L.  P.  Bayne  and  others,  and  pro- 
cured and  caused  to  be  entered  in  a  court  in  the  City  of  New 
York  a  decree  whereby  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola  and  Mobile 
Railroad  and  the  trustees  consented  that  the  bonds  remaining 
unsold  (except  324  which  are  to  be  returned  to  the  State),  are  to 
be  delivered  to  Collinson,  who  is  to  have  the  right  to  buy  at  any 
time  inside  of  seven  months.  If  Collinson  does  purchase,  the 
price  of  the  bonds  is  to  be  paid  by  him  to  the  National  Trust 
Company,  of  New  York  City,  by  it  to  be  kept  subject  to  the 
said  4ecree,  which  provides  that  the  money  sliall  be  paid  out  as 
follows:  The  North  Carolina  Railroad  is  to  receive  $200,000; 
L.  P.  Bayne  $60,000;  Chase  and  his  company,  $80,000;  Aaron 
Barnett  $30,000;  Calvin  Tjttlefield  $25,000;  Collinson's  lawyer, 


252  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

Hopkins'  lawyer,  receiver  etc.,  about  $25,000.  and  sundry  other 
sums  are  to  be  paid  amounting  to  more  than  the  sum  for  which 
the  bonds  will  sell.  I  shall  be  able  to  lay  before  you  a  copy  of 
this  decree. 

"I  am  informed  that  the  railroad  company  has  assented  to 
the  entry  of  judgments  in  Gadsden  Circuit  Court  in  favor  of 
Chase  and  his  copartners,  who  were  contractors  to  construct  the 
road  to  Mobile,  doing  business  under  the  style  of  the  Florida 
Construction  Company.  The  judgment  is  asserted  to  be  given 
for  money,  due  the  company  for  work  done  on  the  road  and  ma- 
terial furnished.  I  am  assured  that  of  the  amount  for  which 
judgment  was  taken  more  than  two-thirds  is  for  money  for  which 
the  road  is  not  liable,  and  as  to  matters  disconnected  with  its 
construction.  I  am  also  informed  that  Chase  received  of  Bayne 
nearly  forty  thousand  dollars  in  connection  with  the  sale  of  the 
bonds,  and  part  of  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  which 
Chase  secured  to  Bayne.  The  Florida  Construction  Company 
caused  the  steamboats  which  the  railroad  company  owned  to  be 
attached  in  Georgia  in  a  suit  based  on  the  said  judgment,  and 
the  boats  were  sold  for  a  small  sum.  The  railroad  being  thereby 
unable  to  carry  freight  on  the  river,  earnings  fell  short  a  very 
large  amount  of  what  they  should  have  been.  Two  other  judg' 
ments  have  been  obtained  in  Gadsden  county  against  the  rail- 
road, and  on  the  first  Monday  eg*  January  last  twenty  miles  of 
the  road,  which  had  been  levied  on  under  executions  issued  on 
the  several  judgments,  were  sold  by  the  sheriff,  and  the  pur- 
chaser is  in  possession  and  claims  to  hold  independent  and  free 
of  the  lien  of  the  State  adverse  thereto.  No  notice  of  this  illegal 
sale  was  given  to  the  State  authorities  by  the  railroad  company, 
so  far  as  I  am  informed,  and  no  application  was  made  to  the 
courts  to  prevent  the  sale. 

"At  the  last  term  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  held  in 
Jacksonville,  certain  persons,  citizens  of  other  States,  obtained  a 
decree  by  the  consent  and  assistance  of  the  President,  Milton  S. 
Littlefield,  by  which  the  marshal  of  the  Northern  District*  is  di- 
rected to  take  possession  of  that  portion  of  the  line  of  road  be- 
tween  Lake  City  and  Quincy,  and  between  Tallahassee  and  St. 
Marks,  and  to  sell  the  same  at  public  outcry  to  satisfy  and  pay  a 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  283 

sum  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  or  thereabouts,  being  the 
amount  of  principal  and  interest  of  bonds  issued  by  the  Pensa- 
cola  and  Georgia  Railroad  which   was  made  by   the  trustees  of 
the  internal  improvement  fund.     The  holders  of  these  bonds 
were  not  paid  because  the  trustees  took  the  check  of  George  W. 
Swepson  as  cash,   which  check  has  never  been  paid.     At  the 
time  when  the  decree  was  rendered  in  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court,  the  road  was  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  appointed  by  the 
Judge  of  the  Second  Judicial  circuit,  at  the  suit  of  certain  parties. 
The  suit  was  afterwards  dismissed,  and  thereupon,  by  order  of 
the  Judge  of  the  State  Court,  the  receiver  gave  up  possession  of 
the  road  and  the  United  States  Marshal  took  possession  of  it 
under  the  authority  of  the  decree  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court.     A  receiver  had  been  in  possession  of  the  road  under  an 
order  made  by  the  Judge  of  the  Fifth  circuit  of  the   State,  in  a 
suit  brought  by  the  trustees  of  the  internal  improvement  fund, 
but  the  Judge  of  the  Second  circuit  treated  the  order  as  null,  and 
put  his  own  receiver  in  possession,  as  before  stated.     I  am  in- 
formed that  a  sale  of  the  road  will  be  made  by  the  marshal  in  a 
few  weeks,  unless  prevented  by  judicial   authority.     It   is  thus 
apparent  that  the  lien  of  the  State  on  a  large  portion  of  the  line 
of  railroad  owned  by   the  Jacksonville,   Pensacola  and  Mobile 
Railroad,  is  in  danger  of  being  rendered  insecure,  and   that  the 
earnings  will  be  applied  by  those  who  purchase  the  road  at  the 
sale  under  the  legal  proceedings  of  the  State.     The  entire  scheme 
of  railway  connection  with   Mobile  will  be   thus  destroyed  and 
the  State  greatly  damaged.     This  result  is  not  only  the  conse- 
quence of  the  illegal  acts  of  the  officers  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pen- 
sacola and  Mobile  Railroad,  the  result  of  the  gross  frauds  in  re- 
spect to  the  bonds,  but  has  been  aided  overtly  and  covertly  by 
the  President  of  the  road.     That  portion  of  line  of  the  road  be- 
tween Lake  City  and  Jacksonvile  is  also  in   the  hands  of,  a  re- 
ceiver, and  is  operated  by  him  as  an   independent  road.     This 
suit  in  which  the  receiver  was  appointed  was  brought  to  estab- 
lish the  claim  of  a  party  who  alleges  that  he  has  stock  in  the  cor- 
poration by  which  said  part  of  the  Hne  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pen- 
sacola and   Mobile  Railroad  was  formerly  owned,  and  alleges 
that  the  Florida  Central  Railroad,  which  was  formed  by  those 


284  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

who  purchased  said  Hne  of  road  at  a  sale  thereof  in  1869,  by  the 
trustees,  is  still  the  owner  thereof,  and  still  in  existence  and  cor- 
poration, never  was  merged  in  the  company  called  the  Jackson- 
ville, Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad;  that  the  issuance  of  the 
State  bonds  based  on  such  a  line  of  road  was  illegal,  and  that 
the  State  has  no  lien  on  the  road. 

''It  will  be  seen  that  the  State  is  deeply  interested  in  this 
question.  The  principal  owner  of  the  stock  in  the  Flerida  Cen- 
tral  Road  is  Milton  S.  Littlefield.  He  purchased  the  greater 
part  of  the  stock  with  money  which  he  obtained  from  Hopkins 
&  Co.  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  2,800  State  bonds. 
He  has  endeavored  to  keep  separate  the  business  accounts  of  the 
line  formerly  owned  by  the  Florida  Central  Road,  and  by  his 
votes  and  that  of  others  he  has  kept  on  foot  a  separate  set  of 
officers,  such  as  President  and  Directors  of  said  Central  Road. 
By  the  terms  of  the  law  under  which  the  State  bonds  were  issued 
to  the  Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  the  road  was  to  pay 
interest  to  the  State  each  six  months,  and  the  State  v/as  to  pay 
interest  to  the  bondholders.  The  fund  provided  by  law  to 
pay  such  interest  was  to  be  derived  from  the  net  earnings  of  the 
road.  It  was  asserted  by  the  company  that  when  the  road 
should  be  repaired,  equipped  and  extended  from  Quincy  to  the 
river — twenty  miles — the  earnings  would  be  sufficient  to  pay 
interest  on  the  four  million  dollars.  The  result  has  been  other- 
wise. The  earnings  have  not  increased ;  the  road  has  been  and 
is  out  of  repair ;  the  rolling  stock  has  run  down  and  been  de- 
stroyed by  reason  of  the  bad  condition  of  the  road.  The 
expenses  have  been  great;  enormous  salaries,  utterly  beyond  the 
business  done,  have  been  paid,  and  a  large  amount  of  the  earn- 
ings has  been  spent  in  litigation  and  in  improper  and  illegal 
ways.  The  extra  expenses  which  have  been,  by  the  placing  of 
the  road  at  various  times  in  hands  of  receivers  of  courts,  should 
have  been  avoided.  Owing  to  these  causes  no  interest  has  been 
paio  by  the  road  to  the  State  to  enable  it  to  pay  the  interest  on 
State  bonds.  I  am  assured,  however,  that  all  the  interest  coupons 
up  to  this  date  have  been  cancelled,  and  that  all  will  be  delivered 
to  the  State.  I  regret,  however,  to  learn  that  this  result  has  been 
obtained  by  appropriating  money  paid  by  Collinson  for  bonds;  that 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  285 

already  a  sum  of  between  four  and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
has  been  spent  of  the  bond  fund  in  that  way.  1  respectfully  sug- 
gest that  the  Legislature  should  make  provision  for  the  protection 
of  the  interests  of  the  State  in  the  public  works  it  has  loaned  the 
credit  of  the  State  to  complete,  and  to  compel  those  who  have 
fraudulently  possessed  themselves  of  money  arising  from  a  sale 
of  the  bonds  to  refund  it  with  interest;  to  defeat  the  schemes 
that  are  on  foot  to  work  further  wrong  and  injury  to  the  State, 
and  insure  proper  application  of  the  proceeds  of  the  bonds  and 
the  completion  of  the  important  enterprise  itself,  that  adventurers 
be  no  longer  allowed  to  make  the  said  public  works  a  means  of 
raising  enormous  sums  of  money  to  be  dissipated  with  reckless 
profligacy.  WILLIAM  ARCHER  COCKE, 

Attorney  General. 

L.  P.  Bayne  appeared  before  the  Legislature  in  person  at  sev- 
eral sessions  and  attempted  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the 
members  of  that  body  that  the  bonds  which  he  held  against  the 
State  had  been  issued  by  the  State  to  raise  revenue  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  government.  His  position  was  that  an  Act  should 
be  passed  issuing  one  million  State  bonds  bearing  six  per  cent, 
interest,  to  mature  in  thirty  years.  That  these  bonds  were  to  be 
sold  for  not  less  than  seventy-five  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  the 
first  proceeds  thereof  be  applied  in  taking  up  or  redeeming  the 
bonds  held  by  Bayne  from  Littlefield.  It  is  evident  that  Bayne 
and  Littlefield  understood  each  other  in  this  scheme,  and  had 
Bayne  been  successful  Littlefield  would  have  shared  with  him  in 
the  spoils.  Many  of  the  less  informed  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, believing  Bayne  to  be  an  "honest  'Publican  from  de 
Norf,"  favored  and  voted  for  his  proposition,  which  they  did  not 
understand  then,  nor  do  they  understand  to  this  day.  Some  of 
the  influences  brought  to  bear  which  induced  the  colored  mem- 
bers to  vote  for  the  measure  were  that  Bayne  had  procured  the 
assistance  of  some  of  the  influential  white  citizens  around  Talla- 
hassee to  advocate  the  passage  of  this  measure.  The  Legisla- 
ture, however,  refused  to  pass  it  because  Bayne  did  not  pay 
money  enough  to  the  carpet-bag  members.  Although  this  glar- 
ing fraud  was  so  fully  exposed  by  Hart's  Attorney-General,  yet  no 
act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  to  recover  the  money  fraudu- 


2  86  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

lently  expended  or  appropriated  by  Litdefield.  This  was,  of 
course,  natural,  as  Littlefield  had  so  abundantly  filled  the  cof- 
fers of  the  carpet-bag  members  at  the  very  inception  of  his  fraud- 
ulent career  in  Florida. 

In  the  Senate  a  concurrent  resolution,  which  originated  in  the 
House  and  passed  that  body  by  almost  unanimous  consent,  was 
now  passed,  authorizing  the  appointment  of  a  joint  committee  of 
three  on  the  part  of  the  House  and  two  on  the  part  of  the  Senate 
to  examine  and  adjust  the  accounts  of  ex-Governor  Reed,  which 
accounts  had  been  referred  to  in  his  last  annual  message.  L.  G. 
Dennis  and  A.  D.  McKinnon  were  appointed  on  the  part  of  the 
Senate,  and  W.  F.  Green,  J.  W.  Johnson  and  J.  C.  Gass  on  the 
part  of  the  Assembly.  After  a  thorough  investigation  the  com- 
mittee, on  the  T2th  day  of  February,  made  the  following  report; 

''The  undersigned  joint  committee,  appointed  to  examine  and 
adjust  the  accounts  of  ex-Governor  Harrison  Reed,  referred  to 
in  his  last  message,  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  have  performed 
that  duty  and  find  justly  due  to  Governor  Reed  the  sum  of 
twenty-four  thousand  dollars  for  legitimate  and  necessary  ex- 
penditures, principally  under  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  of 
August,  1868,  which  imposed  heavy  responsibilities  for  which 
no  adequate  means  were  provided,  and  rendered  necessary  by  the 
disorganized  and  unsettled  condition  of  the  State  during  the  first 
year  of  his  administration.  They  submit  the  accompanying  bill 
and  unanimously  recommend  its  passage. 

(Signed)  '' L.   G.   Dennis, 

"  Chairman." 

In  the  Senate  the  bill  accompanying  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee to  pay  the  Reed  claim,  was  referred  to  another  committee 
with  Horatio  Jenkins,  Governor  Reed's  old  enemy,  as  chair- 
man, and  that  committee  reported  back  the  claim  and  recom- 
mended the  passage  of  the  bill  to  pay  it.  When  the  general 
appropriation  bill  came  up  for  consideration,  L,  G.  Dennis 
moved  that  $24,000  be  appropriated  for  the  relief  of  ex-Governor 
Harrison  Reed,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of 
report  of  Joint  Special  Committee,  provided,  that  the  Comp- 
roUer  shall  deduct  from  this  sum  any  amount  which  may  be 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  287 

found  due  the  State  on  account  of  appropriations  heretofore 
made  for  contingent  expenses  of  the  Governor.  This  amend, 
ment  was  lost  by  seven  to  nine.  Shortly  after  a  motion  was 
made  to  reconsider,  and  still  another  to  lay  the  motion  to 
reconsider  on  the  table.  This  motion  would  have  been  defeated 
had  it  not  been  for  the  vote  of  M.  L.  Stearns,  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor. When  the  vote  stood  ten  for  and  ten  against  laying  on 
the  table,  Stearns,  remembering  how  Governor  Reed's  friends 
had  charged  him  with  stealing  the  freedmens'  meat  and  flour, 
thought  this  a  good  opportunity  to  get  even  with  him,  and  he 
therefore  gave  the  casting  vote  in  favor  of  laying  the  amendment 
on  the  table.  This  ended  the  Governor's  claim  in  the  Senate. 
In  the  Assembly  the  bill  paying  Governor  Reed's  claim  came  up 
for  consideration,  and  after  several  amendments  were  offered 
and  defeated,  it  was  referred  back  to  the  committee  with 
instructions  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature. 
Thus  it  was  that  this  just  claim  was  defeated.  Twenty-four 
thousand  dollars  was  a  small  compensation  for  Governor  Reed, 
who  had  maintained  peace  and  civil  government  in  the  State 
under  the  most  trying  circumstances  that  had  ever  occurred  in 
its  history.  Corrupt  men  stirring  up  strife  between  the  races 
as  a  cloak  with  which  to  hide  their  corrupt  acts  from  the  public 
gaze  of  the  North ;  some  of  the  most  rabid  whites  urging  their 
people  to  open  resistance  ;  the'  carpetbagger,  after  instigating 
this  teaching,  encouraging  the  freedmen  to  strike  the  first  blow ; 
the  Governor  not  only  expended  the  small  amount  of  the  con- 
tingent fund  voted  him  by  the  Legislature,  but  the  author  was 
personally  cognizant  of  the  thousands  of  dollars  which  Governor 
Reed  paid  from  his  pocket  to  maintain  peace  and  order  in  these 
most  trying  days  of  the  State's  history.  Although  Governor 
Reed  left  the  executive  chair  a  poor  man,  stripped  of  nearly  all 
his  earthly  wealth  by  means  of  which  he  had  saved  the  State  and 
its  people  thousands,  yea,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  and 
at  the  same  tmie  prevented  the  general  shedding  of  innocent 
blood,  yet  he  had  the  consolation  to  know  that  He  who  watches 
over  the  destiny  of  all  peoples,  governments,  kingdoms,  and 
principalities,  would  reward  him  as  one  who  had  deprived  him- 
self for  the  benefit  of  the  many. 


288  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature  there  was  not  that  bitter- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  Democrats  that  had  heretofore  been 
exhibited,  for  the  reason  that  the  cause  had  been  removed. 
Every  session  of  the  Legislature  before  that  time  had  witnessed 
the  unseating  of  Democratic  members  who  had  been  fairly 
elected,  which  caused  a  great  deal  of  bad  blood.  The  civil 
rights  bill  had  passed  at  this  session  without  any  great  opposi- 
tion, the  whites  knowing  that  all  the  negro  wanted  was  fair 
treatment  on  railroads  and  steamboats — for  he  was  not  able  to 
eat  in  the  hotels  even  if  he  had  a  desire  to  do  so,  and  he  could 
not  therefore  give  any  trouble.  Hart  and  the  ring,  anticipating 
Conover's  course  as  United  States  Senator,  entered  into  a  plot  to 
hold  as  many  of  the  leading  freedmen  as  possible.  Conover 
not  being  very  popular,  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  appoint 
more  colored  men  to  office  than  Hart.  The  ring  and  Hart  were 
determined  to  beat  both  Conover  and  the  negro.  The  plan  was 
to  send  to  the  Senate  the  names  of  colored  men  to  fill  offices  in 
Democratic  counties  whenever  it  could  be  done  without  exposing 
their  object.  Of  course  the  Democratic  Senators  would  object, 
and  thereupon  enough  carpetbag  Senators  would  vote  with  them 
to  defeat  the  confirmation  of  the  negro,  and  he  having  no  way 
of  knowing  who  voted  against  him,  was  told  that  Governor 
Hart  and  the  ring  did  all  that  they  could  for  him  and  had  sent 
his  name  to  the  Senate,  but  the  Democrats  had  defeated  his  con- 
firmation. One  colored  man,  whose  name  was  sent  up  to  the 
Senate  from  Waukulla  County  for  Tax-Assessor,  could  scarcely 
write  his  name,  but  he  had  great  influence  among  the  colored 
brethren  and  could  secure  the  delegation  from  that  county  in 
political  conventions.  He  was  not  confirmed,  of  course,  but  his 
name  being  sent  u])  secured  him  to  the  ring  for  all  time  to  come. 

This  session  of  the  Legislature  was  a  very  disastrous  one  for 
the  ring.  Scarcely  had  they  got  over  the  shock  of  being  routed 
in  the  election  of  Senator  before  Hamilton  Jay,  Conover's  secre- 
tary while  Treasurer,  was  elected  State  Printer,  which  took  the 
printing  from  the  ring  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  Charles  E. 
Dyke,  who  had  assisted  Conover  in  his  election  to  the  Senate. 
The  Democrats  who  voted  for  Conover  and  the  anti-ring  Repub- 
licans now  held  a  secret  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  laying  plans 


CARPETBACx  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  289 

to  continue  their  resistance  to  the  ring  for  the  next  four  years. 
At  that  meeting  was  Conover,  Purman,  Dyke,  C.  H.  Pearce 
and  a  host  of  others.  The  Democrats  seemed  satisfied  with  the 
good  intentions  of  all  the  Republicans,  but  it  was  evident  that 
they  had  no  faith  or  confidence  in  Mr.  W.  J.  Purman.  It  was, 
however,  agreed  in  that  meeting  that  while  the  members  of  each 
party  would  retain  their  principles  as  such,  they  would  continue 
to  co-operate  until  the  ring  and  its  methods  should  be  utterly 
swept  from  power  in  Florida. 

After  a  session  of  forty-three  days  the  Legislature  adjourned 
on  the  1 9th  day  of  February,  sine  die. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Death  of  Governor  Hart.  Stearns  Assicmes  the  Reijis  of  Govern- 
ment. He  Attempts  to  Get  Rid  of  Attorauey- General  Cocke  by 
Stratagem.  The  Preliminary  Party  Returning  Boards. 
Stearns  Attempts  to  Tie  the  Hands  of  a  High  Judicial  Officer. 
Freedmen  to  Support  Stearns^  So- Called  Administration.  The 
Election  of  Congressmen  and  Members  of  the  Legislature  of 
1874.  Frauds  Cofjimitted  in  the  Counties  of  Leon  and  Jeffer- 
son. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature  of  1874,  Governor 
Hart  was  not  able  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  his  office  other  than 
to  sanction  any  appointments  which  Stearns  and  other  carpet- 
baggers would  desire ;  and  while  these  appointments  were  sup- 
posed to  be  made  by  him,  yet  they  were  really  made  by  Stearns. 
Many  of  the  names  that  had  been  rejected  by  the  Senate  were 
now  again  appointed  in  utter  violation  of  the  constitution, 
notable  among  which  was  E.  C.  Weeks,  of  Leon  County,  as 
Sheriff.  Weeks  was  now  appointed  Sheriff,  which  meant  a  death 
struggle  for  the  supremacy  of  the  ring  in  Leon  County  and  a 
general  war  in  the  State  to  suppress  all  opposition  to  this  formid- 
able combination. 

Governor  Hart  died  in  Jacksonville  on  the  i8th  of  March, 
1874,  and  was  given  a  large  and  respectable  funeral  by  all 
classes  of  citizens.  At  the  news  of  his  death  Stearns,  although 
in  his  proclamation  expressing  great  sorrow  at  the  departure  of 
the  deceased  Governor,  yet  the  catastrophe  so  lighted  up  his 
path  to  the  United  States  Senate  or  to  the  gubernatorial  chair 
that  he  could  not  hide  the  ecstasy  into  which  he  had  fallen.  In 
fact,  a  general  rejoicing  was  indulged  in  throughout  the  carpet- 
bag clan  who  were  friendly  to  the  ring,  and  social  meetings 
were  held  at  which  they  renewed  the  pledge  to  each  other  for 
fraud  and  plunder.  Stearns  was  the  most  rotten  piece  of  guber- 
natorial timber  that  was  ever  placed  at  the  helm  of  government. 

Hart  had  attempted,  during  his  administration,  to  force  Attor- 
ney General  Cocke  to  resign  his  position  in  the  Cabinet,  but  had 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  29 1 

not  succeeded.  Stearns,  now  finding  Cocke,  by  virtue  of  his 
office,  a  member  of  the  State  Returning  Board,  undertook  to  get 
rid  of  him  by  stratagem.  He  had  an  understanding  with  all  the 
members  of  Hart's  Cabinet  to  resign,  and  present  their  resigna- 
tions in  a  body.  This  was  to  be  done  apparently  out  of  courtesy 
to  the  incoming  Governor,  but  the  real  object  was  to  obtain 
Cocke's  resignation,  which  would  be  accepted,  while  he  would 
refuse  to  accept  the  resignations  of  the  others.  Everything  was 
made  ready  to  capture  this  Samson.  Cocke  had  not  informed 
the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  that  he  would  not  be  caught 
in  this  trap,  and  it  was  hopefully  expected  that  he  would  follow 
in  their  wake.  When  the  hour  arrived  to  commence  the  play 
Cocke  was  missing,  but  the  others  proceeded  to  the  Executive 
Chamber  and  presented  their  resignations  to  the  chief,  who,  after 
looking  around  for  Cocke,  deHvered  a  short  address,  refusing  to 
accept  their  resignations,  which  was  full  of  disappointment  and 
distress.  The  play  ended  in  failure,  owing  to  the  absence  of  the 
leading  performer.  The  resignation  of  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  who 
had  been  appointed  by  Governor  Hart  after  a  hard  fight  by  the 
colored  brother,  would  have  been  accepted  but  for  fear  of  the 
same  power. 

Stearns,  baffled  in  the  effort  to  get  rid  of  Cocke,  now  buckled 
on  his  sword  for  the  United  States  Senatorial  contest.  He  and 
other  leading  members  of  the  carpet-bag  ring  met  in  Jacksonville 
and  agreed  to  make  a  determined  fight  in  all  the  counties — and 
especially  in  the  Black  Belt  counties— to  elect  members  to  the 
Legislature  of  1875  who  would  vote  for  a  Ring  carpet-bagger  for 
the  next  United  States  Senator.  To  get  Colonel  Bisbee's  indi- 
vidual support  in  this  fight  he  was  put  forward  as  the  candidate 
of  the  Ring ;  but  those  who  belonged  to  the  inner  ring,  consist- 
ing of  Martin,  Stearns,  Wentworth  and  the  "Litde  Giant,"  L. 
G.  Dennis,  were  secretly  arranging  for  the  election  of  Stearns, 
he  agreeing  to  appoint  Wentworth  Lieutenant  Governor  as  soon 
as  he  should  be  elected  United  States  Senator. 

The  Ring  had  succeeded  in  every  one  of  the  Black  Belt  coun- 
ties  in  estabHshing  county  Republican  committees  in  opposition 
to  the  regular  Republican  committees.  These  committees  were 
even   now   denominated   as  the   party  returning   boards  of  the 


292  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

different  counties.  These  preliminary  returning  boards,  when- 
ever there  were  not  enough  Ring  supporters  in  a  precinct  to 
bring  up  a  Stearns  delegation,  would  appoint  delegates  from 
other  precincts  to  make  up  the  full  measure.  A  convict  was  as 
suitable  for  their  purposes  as  the  most  honest  man.  The  pre- 
cinct returning  boards,  through  the  instructions  from  the  county 
returning  boards,  would  commit  all  frauds  necessary  to  sustain 
the  county  returning  boards  in  throwing  out  any  precinct  that 
was  not  solid  for  Stearns  and  the  Ring  managers.  The  county 
returning  boards  were  to  superintend,  perfect  and  defend  all 
frauds  committed  by  the  Ring,  and  make  all  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  taking  any  case  in  which  the  preliminary  boards  had 
failed  to  beat  the  masses  to  the  State  Returning  Board,  or  to  the 
Central  Committee,  of  which  Mr.  E.  M.  Cheney  was  still  Chair- 
man. The  State  Returning  Board  had  a  general  supervision 
over  all  the  frauds  of  these  county  preliminaries  and  decided  all 
contests  coming  up  from  the  counties  in  favor  of  the  Ring ;  and 
the  question  of  right  or  wrong,  of  majorities  or  minorities,  found 
no  favor  with  this  corrupt  carpet-bag  party  Returning  Board. 
Another  power  assumed  by  this  Returning  Board  was  to  prepare 
all  the  papers  and  make  good  all  the  frauds  committed  upon  the 
ballot  box  in  the  different  counties  by  the  Ring,  and  define  the 
same  before  the  State  Board  of  Canvassers.  Whenever  opposi- 
tion in  any  county  was  so  strong  among  the  freedmen  that  mon- 
ey and  intimidation  was  not  sufficient  to  remove  it  the  Ring 
would  propose  a  compromise  by  having  the  two  committees  to 
meet  jointly,  and  the  side  that  could  poll  the  most  votes  at  the 
meeting  should  have  the  Republican  organization  of  the  coun- 
ty. To  illustrate  their  desperate  efforts  when  these  committees 
would  meet,  the  most  of  whose  members  were  freedmen,  the 
carpetbaggers  would  take  members  of  the  committee  into  their 
houses,  seat  them  at  their  tables  for  dinner  or  breakfast,  and 
give  them  money  to  come  over  before  the  committee  took  a 
vote ;  and  when  this  failed,  they  would  hand  the  freedman 
some  fine  book  to  read  (when  perhaps  the  poor  fellow  did 
not  know  *'B  from  a  bull's  foot")  and  tell  him  to  sit 
awhile  in  the  parlor  and  enjoy  himself;  while  they  would  retire, 
locking  the  door  behind  themselves  and  rush  to  the  committee 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  293 

meeting.  The  other  side  in  a  great  state  of  excitement  would 
hunt  diligently  for  their  lost  statesman,  who  could  not  be  found 
until  the  committee  had  accomplished  its  work  and  the  Ring 
through  fraud  and  false  imprisonment  had  procured  their  legal 
status  in  the  county.  Whenever  the  leading  colored  men  had 
pluck,  they  would  resist  the  carpetbag  organizations  obtained  in 
this  way,  as  was  the  case  in  the  counties  of  Leon  and  Jefferson. 
The  Ring,  in  the  attempt  to  capture  the  Black  Belt  counties, 
did  not  hesitate  to  resort  to  anything,  however  disgraceful  it 
might  be.  In  Duval  county  they  drew  the  color  line  on  honest 
Dan  Mclnnis,  and  circulated  among  the  fieedmen  the  story 
that  Mclnnis  wanted  to  get  up  a  mulatto  church.  John  R. 
Scott  now  played  the  traitor  to  Mclnnis  and  supported  the 
charge  made  by  the  Ring.  Joseph  E.  Lee,  who  had  not  been 
long  in  the  State,  had  been  sent  to  Jacksonville  from  Talla- 
hassee by  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  to  A.  A.  Knight  for  employ- 
ment. Lee  was  from  Philadelphia,  and  knew  nothing  of  the 
condition  of  the  State  and  the  trouble  through  which  the  colored 
people  had  passed  by  reason  of  carpetbag  management.  He,  too, 
joined  in  with  the  Ring  against  Mclnnis,  who  undoubtedly  was 
one  of  the  most  honest  and  upright  colored  men  that  was  ever 
elected  to  the  Legislature  in  this  State.  Martin,  Stearns  and 
many  other  leading  members  of  the  Ring  came  to  Jacksonville 
to  assist  in  the  fight  made  on  Mclnnis,  and  succeeded  in  beat- 
ing him  in  the  county  convention,  and  Lee  and  Scott  were 
nominated  for  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature.  Thus, 
through  falsehood  and  deception,  the  man  who  had  been  work- 
ing for  the  people  and  against  carpetbag  treachery  was  de- 
feated to  make  place  for  those  whom  the  Ring  managers  could 
control. 

Archibald,  a  carpetbagger  who  had  been  appointed  Judge 
of  the  Fourth  Judicial  Circuit  by  a  former  Governor,  had  com- 
plained  that  the  salary  of  his  office  was  not  sufficient  for  him 
to  subsist  on.  Stearns  and  the  Ring  managers  being  very 
anxious  to  get  rid  of  W.  H.  Christy,  their  old  enemy,  as  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  in  Duval  county,  and  retain  Archibald  and 
make  a  judicial  ally  of  him,  called  a  secret  meeting  in  Jackson- 
ville® to^  take    into    consideration  this  important  subject.     The 


2  94  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA. 

meeting  was  attended  by  Stearns  as  Governor  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Ring,  and  a  spirited  discussion  ensued.  It  was  final- 
ly decided  that  Archibald  should  be  appointed  Superintendent 
of  Schools  in  Duval,  and  Christy  removed.  The  edict  went 
forth,  and  Archibald  was  appointed.  It  happened,  however, 
before  Archibald  qualified,  a  question  then  arose  as  to  whether, 
under  the  Constitution,  -he  could  hold  the  office  of  Judge  and 
that  of  Superintendent  of  Schools  at  the  same  time. 

Archibald,  a  carpetbagger  who  had  been  appointed  Judge 
of  the  Fourth  Judicial  Circuit  by  a  former.  Governor,  had  com- 
plained that  the  salary  of  his  office  was  not  sufficient  for  him  to 
subsist  on.  Stearns  and  the  Ring  managers  being  very  anxious 
to  get  rid  of  W.  H.  Christy,  their  old  enemy,  as  Superintendent 
of  Schools  in  Duval  county,  and  retain  Archibald  and  make  a 
judicial  ally  of  him,  called  a  secret  meeting  in  Jacksonville  to 
take  into  consideration  this  important  subject.  This  meeting 
was  attended  by  Stearns  as  Governor,  and  other  members  of  the 
Ring,  and  a  spirited  discussion  ensued.  It  was  finally  decided 
that  Archibald  should  be  appointed  Superintendent  of  Schools  in 
Duval  and  Christy  removed.  The  edict  went  forth,  and  Archi- 
bald was  appointed.  It  happened,  however,  before  Archibald 
qualified,  a  question  arose  as  to  whether,  under  the  Constitution, 
he  could  hold  the  office  of  Judge  and  that  of  Superintendent  of 
Schools  at  the  same  time.  They  cared  nothing  for  the  Constitu- 
tion, but  the  real  question  was  as  to  how  Randall  and  Westcott 
would  decide  the  matter.  It  was  therefore  agreed  to  get  the  pri- 
vate opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice,  which  was  had.  He  informed 
them  that  the  very  moment  Archibald  accepted  the  office  of 
Superintendent  of  Schools  he  vacated  his  office  as  Judge.  A  sec 
ond  meeting  was  called  in  Jacksonville,  which  brought  Stearns 
and  his  ring  managers  together.  At  this  meeting  it  was  decided 
that  one  of  Archibald's  best  friends  should  bea])pointed  and  that 
Archibald  draw  the  pay  and  perform  the  duties  of  the  office. 
This  decree  was  at  once  put  in  execution  by  the  appointment  of 
one  Rollins, of  Ft.  George,  in  Duval  county,  as  Superintendent, 
and  Archibald  drew  the  pay  and  performed  the  duties  of  the 
office.  This  little  transaction  worked  nicely  for  several  months, 
when  there  appeared  in   the  political  horizon  a  speck  of  cloud 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  295 

which  kept  increasing  in  size  and  ugliness  until  the  terror-strick- 
en carpetbaggers  were  forced  to  call  Rollins  to  his  post.  J.  W. 
Bentley,  a  wealthy  Democrat,  being  a  member  of  the  School 
Board,  contended  that  Rollins,the  real  Superintendent, could  not 
deputize  Archibald  to  perform  his  duties.  The  carpetbaggers, 
fearing  that  the  matter  might  be  made  public,  called  Rollins  to 
his  post.  The  Judge,  however,  was  paid  from  the  time  he  was 
appointed — that  is,  from  the  time  he  was  appointed  preceding 
RoUins's  appointment.  Whether  the  Judge  continued  to  receive 
the  salary  of  Superintendent  after  the  storm  created  by  Bentley 
was  over,  is  not  known,  but  it  is  presumed  that  a  fair  division 
was  made  of  the  salary,  as  he  did  not  resign  the  judgeship. 

The  lines  between  the  Ring  and  anti-Ring  element  in  the 
Republican  party  were  now  drawn  more  distinctly  than  were  the 
lines  between  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties.  Colored 
men  in  the  Black  Belt  counties,  soiie  of  whom  could  scarcely 
write  their  names,  had  been  appointed  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and 
were  now  called  upon  to  use  their  authority  to  compel  the  freed- 
men  to  swear  allegiance  to  Stearns.  False  charges  were  trumped 
up  and  they  were  carried  before  these  Justices — the  Sheriffs  in 
some  counties  assisting  in  getting  up  the  charges.  The  colored 
defendant  was  often  conveyed  to  jail  secretly,  and  after  being 
safely  lodged  in  prison  would  be  told  by  the  Sheriff  that  if  he 
would  support  Stearns  and  the  Ring  he  should  be  set  at  liberty. 
We  take  for  illustration  the  following:  In  Leon  County  the  op- 
position to  Stearns  and  the  Ring  was  more  powerful  than  in  any 
other  county,  for  the  reason  that  the  colored  leaders  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Ring  in  that  county  had  more  pluck  Two  young 
colored  men  who  were  natives  of  the  county,  had  been  sent 
to  school  in  Georgia,  and  had  come  back  with  a  fair  education. 
Of  course  when  they  came  back  to  the  county  they  had  sufficient 
intelligence  to  cast  their  fortunes  with  the  anti-Ring  freedmen. 
They,  being  natives,  had  great  influence  with  the  freedmen.  The 
Ring  discovered  this  fact,  and  undertook  to  buy  them  off  and 
bring  their  influence  to  Stearns.  One  of  these  young  men, 
James  D.  Thompson,  now  an  attorney  at  law,  was  paid  some 
fifty  dollars  to  go  over  to  the  Ring.  He  received  the  money 
very  thankfully,  and  then  went  to  the  livery  stable,  hired  a  horse 


296  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

and  buggy,  and  went  out  to  a  public  meeting  where  he  exposed 
the  Sheriff — Major  E.  C.  Weeks,  carpetbagger — who  had  paid 
him  the  money.  This  action  on  the  part  of  Thompson  had  the 
effect  of  greatly  injuring  the  Ring  in  that  county.  A  few  days 
after,  Thompson  was  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail  by  the  Sheriff 
without  any  complaint  having  then  been  made  against  him. 
Thompson  gave  bonds,  and  was  attempting  to  proceed  against 
the  Sheriff  for  false  imprisonment.  This  was  discovered  by  the 
Sheriff  and  Thompson  was  again  arrested,  when  he  then  filed  a 
petition  before  Judge  J.  D.  Westcott,  one  of  the  Supreme  Judges, 
for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus^  which  was  at  once  granted,  and  be- 
fore the  Sheriff  had  time  to  fix  things  up  Thompson  was  before 
the  court.  The  Judge  at  once  inquired  into  the  cause  of  Thomp- 
son's imprisonment,  and  found  that  the  Sheriff  had  no  commit- 
ment or  other  authority  upon  which  to  hold  him.  In  the  peti- 
tion for  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  Thompson  had  prayed  that  a 
summons  duces  tecum  be  issued  to  one  De  Vaughn,  a  colored  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  to  show  whether  he  had  issued  any  warrant 
against  him.  De  Vaughn  made  his  appearance  before  Judge 
AVestcott,  and  he  and  the  Sheriff  being  separated,  and  not  al- 
lowed to  hear  each  other's  evidence,  De  Vaughn  swore  that  he 
had  given  the  Sheriff  a  commitment  for  Thompson  on  account 
of  an  affidavit  taken  in  his  court  against  him,  but  could  not  pro- 
duce the  affidavit,  nor  could  he  tell  the  nature  of  the  complaint 
nor  by  whom  made.  The  Judge  took  this  testimony  in  writing. 
When  the  Sheriff  testified,  he  stated  that  De  Vaughn  had  not 
given  him  a  commitment  for  Thompson,  and  that  he  had  arrest- 
ed Thompson  on  suspicion.  Thompson  was  discharged,  and 
when  the  Grand  Jury  met  it  happened  that  a  majority  of  it  was 
composed  of  Democrats  and  anti-Ring  freedmen.  Westcott  ap- 
peared before  the  Grand  Jury  and  presented  this  testimony. 
De  Vaughn  was  indicted  for  perjury.  AVhen  he  was  arraigned 
before  the  court  for  trial,  a  jury  was  impanneled  of  the  most  ig- 
norant and  dishonest  of  the  colored  men,  all  blacks — in  fact, 
they  were  picked  for  their  special  notoriety  in  the  community  as 
cow,  hog  and  chicken  thieves,  and  kept  around  the  court  house 
and  up  and  down  the  streets  of  Tallahassee,  whiskied,  fed  and 
paid  to  uiduce  the  masses  to  sustain  Stearns  and     the    Ring. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  297 

Judge  Westcott's  testimony  against  De  Vaughn  had  no  more 
effect  upon  the  minds  of  this  so-called  jury  than  a  drop  of  fresh 
water  would  have  upon  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  affect  its  saltness. 
De  Vaughn  was  acquitted  after  the  jury  had  spent  some  time  in 
room,  though  during  the  time  spent  there  they  were  not  delib- 
erating upon  the  testimony  and  the  law  given  them  by  the  Court, 
but  deliberating  as  to  who  they  could  get  to  write  their  verdict. 
Finally  the  Deputy  Sheriff  wrote  the  verdict  and  signed  the  name 
of  the  foreman.  This  was  a  grand  victory  for  Stearns — the  sav- 
ing this  perjured  colored  brother  from  the  State  prison,  and  all 
the  cow,  hog  and  chicken  thieves  throughout  the  county  and 
State,  as  the  news  was  conveyed  to  them,  shouted  hurrah  for 
Stearns.  This  is  only  one  iaiperfect  sample  (but  the  imperfec- 
tion consists  in  not  being  able  to  give  the  full  details  of  the  vic- 
tory) of  the  many  acts  of  oppression  the|people  of  Florida  under- 
went while  passing  through  the  fiery  furnace  of  carpet-bagism. 

The  Northern  machine  politicians  assert  that  it  was  the  in- 
competence and  unfaithfulness  of  the  negro  voter  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  that  brought  about  the  unhealthy  condition  of  things 
which  made  the  solid  South, —  it  was  these  and  kindred  acts 
of  the  carpetbaggers  which  furnish  the  key  to  unlock  the  door 
that  reveals  the  secrets  of  the  solid  South,  while  these  very  car- 
petbaggers were  sustained  by  the  Northern  machine  poHticians. 
From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  Stearns'  so-called  administra- 
tion  it  was  contaminated  with  packed  juries  for  political  pur- 
poses, and  during  the  last  two  years  of  his  term  it  became  a 
patent  fact  that  scarcely  a  person  brought  before  the  courts  in 
the  Black  Belt  counties  could  be  convicted  from  the  fact  that  the 
petit  juries  were  mostly  composed  of  the  very  worst  element 
among  the  freedmen — that  element  that  made  its  living  by  steal- 
ing pigs,  chickens,  cows,  and  other  property  from  the  whites 
and  the  more  industrious  freedmen.  When  an  acquittal  could  not 
be  had  in  the  most  conclusive  case  of  larceny  by  reason  of  some 
honest  freedman  or  some  white  man  on  the  jury,  the  thieves  on 
the  jury,  or  those  who  sympathized  with  the  thief,  would  cause 
a  mistrial,  which,  in  most  cases  would  end  in  an  acquittal.  So 
far  as  the  juries  and  the  ministerial  officers  were  concerned,  the 
courts  for  the  last  two  years  of  Stearns'  administration  were  mere 


298  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

political  clubs  for  the  purpose  of  securing  his  election.  The  peo- 
ple, both  black  and  white,  became  disheartened  on  account  of 
the  loss  of  Stock  through  thieft  and  almost  gave  up  in  some 
sections  the  industry  of  stock-raising,  which,  for  some  years 
ruined  the  Black  Belt  counties,  and  brought  those  who 
owned  the  lands  in  debt,  as  well  as  the  freedmen,  who  had 
to  get  the  landlord  or  merchant  to  send  off  and  buy  every  pound 
of  meat  that  they  ate. 

The  Congressional  delegation,  with  the  exception  of  Abijah 
Gilbert,  now  being  against  the  Ring,  they  determined  to  make  a 
desperate  fight  to  secure  both  Congressmen,  the  United  States 
Senator,  and' as  many  members  of  the  Legislature  as  possible 
preparatory  to  gaining  control  of  the  entire  Federal  patronage, 
or  at  least  to  so  cripple  Conover  as  to  leave  him  with  no  influ- 
ence with  the  President.  The  Democrats  nominated  Judge  Fin- 
ley  in  the  Second  Congressional  District,  and  J.  T.  Walls  com- 
pletely cleaned  out  the  Ring  in  that  District  and  was  nominated. 
John  A.  Henderson  then  resided  in  Leon  county.  The  notori- 
ous Purman,  then  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  First  Congress- 
ional District,  was  determined  to  be  renominated  ;  but  the  Ring, 
with  Stearns  at  its  head,  could  not  afford  to  have  him  go  back  to 
Congress  after  having  betrayed  them  and  gone  in  with  Conover. 
The  returning  boards  of  the  party  had  been  instructed  in  all  the 
counties  in  this  District  to  send  anti-Purman  delegates ;  and 
whenever  they  could  not  get  people  enough  together  to  hold  a 
convention,  they  were  to  appoint  delegations  and  send  them  up 
to  the  District  Convention.  This  was  accordingly  done.  The 
astute  Purman  hearing  of  this  fact,  so  arranged  things  as  to  cap- 
ture the  convention,  the  delegates  sent  up  by  the  returning 
boards  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  The  convention  was 
€alled  to  order  and  an  anti-Ring  delegate  elected  as  chairman. 
A  full  set  of  officers  was  elected,  all  of  whom  were  anti-Ring, 
and  a  committee  on  credentials  appointed.  The  convention 
then  took  a  recess  to  await  the  report  of  the  committee  on  cre- 
dentials. When  the  convention  reassembled  it  found  that  the 
Ring  had  captured  the  State  Assembly  Hall  in  which  they  had 
assembled,  and  had  put  a  Ring  chairman  in  the  place  of  the  one 
elected  by  the  convention.     When  the  anti-Ring  delegates  at- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  299 

tempted  to  enter  a  general  mob  began.  The  scene  was  now  in- 
describable. Knives,  pistols,  clubs  and  everything  that  could 
be  used  for  head-breaking,  were  sought  after  as  eagerly  as  though 
the  life  of  the  seeker  depended  upon  the  discovery  of  the  article 
sought,  and  this  was  about  the  case.  The  poor  ignorant  freed- 
men  knocked  each  other  down  with  clubs  and  broke  each  others 
heads,  until  there  was  not  left  a  desk  in  the  Assembly  chamber 
but  had  lost  from  one  to  all  its  legs  to  be  used  upon  the  heads 
and  bodies  of  the  freedmen  in  the  defence  of  the  most  de- 
ceptive and  corrupt  set  of  men  that  have  ever  planted  foot  on 
Southern  soil.  Stearns,  being  at  the  head  of  the  government, 
ordered  Purman  and  his  followers  from  the  capitol,  and  threat- 
ened to  call  out  the  militia  (most  of  whom  were  disreputable  col- 
ored persons  lying  around  to  intimidate  other  freedmen  into  the 
support  of  Stearns)  if  they  should  refuse  to  go.  Purman  called 
his  convention  in  the  public  street  and  then  nominated  himself 
for  Congress.  The  Ring  and  Stearns  had  promised  to  nominate 
Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  then  in  Stearns'  Cabmet;  but  they  were 
afraid  to  nominate  him,  as  they  thought  he  might  be  able  to 
whip  Purman  out  of  the  field  and  get  to  Congress,  when,  remem- 
bering how  the  Ring  had  treated  himself  and  Governor  Reed,  this 
elephant  might,  with  his  heavy  black  foot, [be  able  to  crush  them 
worse  than  Purman  could.  Robert  Meacham,  who  had  always 
been  completely  controlled  by  the  Ring,  was  nominated  as  the 
Ring  candidate.  Mr.  Gibbs,  who  had  always  opposed  Purman 
and  his  methods,  both  in  Jackson  county  and  in  his  former  nomina. 
tion  to  Congress,  was  in  perfect  health  before  the  meeting  ot  the 
convention  and  during  its  sitting.  He  had  just  finished  deliver- 
ing a  powerful  speech  against  Purman  in  the  Stearns'  convention, 
reacapitulating  all  his  cruelty.  He  went  home  and  ate  a  hearty 
dinner,  after  which  he  suddenly  died.  It  was  whispered  and 
generally  believed  that  he  was  poisoned  by  some  of  the  carpet- 
baggers, because  they  dreaded  his  growing  popularity ;  but 
whether  it  was  the  Ring  or  Purman  wing,  was  not  ascertained. 
The  contest  now  opened  in  the  Black  Belt  counties  in  West  and 
Middle  Florida  for  Ring  supremacy.  Osborn,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Ring  being  interested  in  the  scheme  of  the  Great 
Southern  Railroad,  and  having  hopes  that  the  scheme  would  be 


300  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

successful,  had  passed  through  the  Legislature  a  general  bill  for 
the  incorporation  of  railroads  and  canals.  This  bill  authorized 
the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  any  person  who  allowed  stock  to 
walk  on  any  railroad.  Martin  was  Speaker  when  the  bill  passed 
and  Stearns  presided  over  the  Senate  at  the  same  time,  and  these 
officers  of  course  signed  the  bill.  The  Leon  county  delegation 
had  always  made  it  a  point  to  vote  against  all  railroad  bills  that 
they  did  not  understand,  and  this  was  one  which  they  had  voted 
against.  They  expected  a  fight  with  Stearns  and  the  Ring,  and 
saved  this  little  campaign  document  to  be  used  in^the  proper  time. 
Purman  was  hard  pushed  by  the  Ring,  until  the  author  of  this 
work  informed  him  of  this  law,  which  had  been  voted  for  by  all 
the  members  of  the  Ring  in  the  Legislature ;  and  he  at  once 
made  use  of  it  in  his  speeches.  He  would  read  the  law  and  then 
explain  it  as  an  act  aimed  at  the  freedmen  by  Stearns  and  other 
members  of  the  Ring.  At  Chattahoochee,  in  Gadsden  county, 
Stearns  and  Martin  had  a  cart-load  of  guns  brought  to  a  pub- 
lic meeting  to  be  used  against  Purman  and  his  followers. 
They  had  fed  the  freedmen  on  so  much  bad  whisky  that  they 
came  near  getting  themselves  killed.  The  freedmen  became 
uncontrollable  and  commenced  shooting  indiscriminately  in 
every  direction,  routing  Stearns,  Martin  and  Purman,  and  run- 
ning them  away  from  the  meeting.  Purman  returned  later  in 
the  evening  and  called  a  lot  of  colored  women  together,  and 
after  giving  each  of  them  some  money,  he  said  to  them  that  he 
was  a  good  "Publican,"  and  wanted  supper;  and  to  further  as- 
sure them  that  he  was  a  good  "Publican,"  told  them  that  he  did 
not  want  to  sleep  with  any  white  person,  but  wanted  to  sleep 
with  the  blackest  person  in  the  neighborhood.  John  D.  Harris, 
a  Methodist  preacher,  was  along  as  one  of  Purman's  canvassers, 
and  it  looked  as  though  he  had  been  "dipped"  three  or  four 
times,  and  so  Purman  selected  him  to  sleep  with.  This  action 
on  the  part  of  Purman  had  its  desired  effect,  as  most  of  the  freed- 
men spoke  out  and  declared  him  to  be  a  good  "Publican,"  and 
he  had  no  more  trouble  in  that  part  of  the  county. 

Purman  being  one  of  the  trained  members  of  the  Ring,  was 
confident  that  fraud  at  the  ballot  box  would  be  attempted  to  de. 
feat  him  for  Congress,  so  he  had  himself  nominated  in  Jackson 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  30I 

county  for  the  Assembly.  This  was  for  a  two-fold  purpose — first, 
to  make  what  he  could  out  of  the  election  of  U.S.  Senator,  which 
was  to  take  place  at  the  coming  session.  Second,  to  intimidate 
Stearns  and  cause  him  to  desist  from  opposing  him,  Stearns  fear- 
ing that  Purman  would  expose  in  the  Legislature  the  rottenness 
of  his  administration.  The  fight  went  on  for  several  weeks, 
when  at  length  Stearns  sued  for  peace.  Meacham  was  then 
taken  out  of  the  field  by  Stearns,  and  Purman  was  required  to 
pay  the  war  debt,  which  was  estimated  at  five  hundred  dollars. 
Meacham  said  that  as  he  had  been  the  victim  of  Stearns'  fight  and 
spent  his  own  money,  the  benefits  of  the  compromise  should 
inure  to  him.  Purman  told  that  he  paid  the  five  hundred  dol- 
lars to  Stearns,  and  Meacham  came  out  minus  the  five  hundred. 
Walls,  in  the  Second  District,  was  less  fortunate  than  Pur- 
man, as  he  had  a  secret  enemy  to  fight.  The  Ring  did  not  dare 
to  oppose  him  openly  for  fear  of  weakening  themselves  with  the 
mass  of  the  freedmen;  but  they  worked  like  heroes  to  defeat 
him  secretly.  The  Democrats  that  year  did  but  very  little  to 
carry  the  First  District,  but  the  watchful  and  still-hunting  Finley 
worked  hard  for  his  election  in  the  Second  District.  For  some 
reas6n  not  altogether  known,  there  was  a  falling  off  from  the 
Democratic  vote  in  that  district,  and  the  canvass  did  not  amount 
to  much  more  than  organizing  for  1876.  Both  Purman  and  Walls 
were  counted  in,  while  Purman  was  also  elected  to  the  Legisla- 
ture.  The  leading  colored  men  in  the  district  did  not  support 
Purman  because  they  had  any  confidence  in  him,  but  because 
he  was  the  strongest  man  they  could  confront  the  Ring  with. 
Had  Bloxham  been  nominated  for  Congress  by  the  Democrats 
that  year,  he  would  have  defeated  Purman.  Judge  Finley  con- 
tested the  seat  of  Walls  and  was  admitted  into  Congress. 
Stearns  and  the  Ring,  anticipating  that  the  Legislature  would  be 
very  close,  and  knowing  that  if  Leon  and  Jefferson  counties  sent 
up  anti-Ring  delegations  to  the  Legislature  they  would  be  un- 
able  to  pass  plunder  legislation,  set  to  work  to  carry  these  coun- 
ties at  whatever  cost.  Thousands  of  dollars  were  expended  in 
these  counties  to  defeat  the  anti-Ring  regular  Republicaw  tickets, 
and  the  whole  power  of  the  administration  was  brought  to  bear, 
with  now  and  then  a  tithe  of  recogaition  from  the  State  party 


30  2  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

returning  board,  and  urging  the  election  of  the  Ring  tickets. 
The  freedmen  were  told  that  the  Ring  was  in  favor  of 
high  taxes  upon  the  lands  of  the  ex-slaveholders  so  as 
to  compel  them  to  sell  these  lands  cheaply  to  the  freedmen  or 
the  State  would  take  the  lands  for  taxes  and  give  them  out  to  the 
freedmen.  They  would  tell  the  freedmen  that  the  anti-Ring 
members  of  the  party  were  in  favor  of  low  taxes,  so  that  the 
whites  could  hold  the  land  and  rent  them  to  the  colored  people 
at  high  prices.  While  the  better  informed  freedmen  paid  no  at- 
tention to  this  demagogism,  there  were  quite  a  number  of  the 
more  ignorant  class  who  believed  these  sayings  were  righteous 
and  that  Stearns  and  the  Ring  were  good  'Publicans,  as  they 
wanted  to  give  the  colored  brother  land.  The  whites  in  these 
counties  seeing  the  great  disadvantages  under  which  the  anti- 
Ring  nominees  w^ere  laboring,  refused  to  put  a  legislative  ticket 
in  the  field,  and  advised  the  Democrats  in  Leon  county  to  vote  for 
the  anti-Ring  Republican  ticket.  Stearns  soon  learned  what  had 
taken  place,  and  called  his  Ring  followers  together  at  Jacksonville. 
In  the  caucus  it  was  decided,  if  the  anti-Ring  ticket  had  any  show 
of  election,  fraud  upon  the  ballot  box  should  be  resorted  to  as  it 
was  at  Yellow  Bluff.  It  was  also  decreed  that  the  County  Commis- 
sioners in  these  counties  should  appoint  none  but  Ring  inspectors 
at  the  ballot  boxes  in  these  counties,  except  now  and  then  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  Democratic  party  to  keep  down  suspicion. 
This  order  was  carried  out  to  the  letter;  inspectors  were  ap- 
pointed in  the  largest  colored  precincts  Avith  instructions  to  re- 
turn the  vote  for  the  Ring  candidates.  In  Leon  county  the  no- 
torious Joseph  Bowes  and  De  Leon,  ballot-box  stuffers  of  the 
very  highest  type,  were  selected  as  inspectors  of  the  two  largest 
precincts  in  the  county.  C.  H.  Walton,  editor  of  the  Tallahas- 
see Sentinel,  w^hich  was  one  of  the  leading  papers  in  the  support 
of  Stearns'^so-called  administration,  was  on  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners  in  Leon  county,  and  was  the  chief  manipulator 
in  securing  the  appointment  of  Bowes  and  DeLeon  as  inspectors 
of  election.  These  two  worthies,  who  were  aware  that  the  whites 
would  be  on  the  watch  for  them,  proceeded  to  the  polling  places 
over  night  in  order  to  get  what  freedmen  they  could,  by  giving 
them  whisky  and  money,  to  give  countenance  to  the  fraud.     De 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  303 

Leon  was  so  closely  watched  at  his  precinct  by  the  whites  that  he 
could  do  nothing.     Bowes  was  more  successful.     At  his  precinct 
the  Democratic  inspector  did  not  arrive  until  after  the  polls  were 
opened,  and  before  opening  the  polls  he  stuffed  three  hundred 
fraudulent  tickets  into  the  box,  and  these  tickets  were  counted 
for  the  Ring  legislative  ticket,  and  yet  the  precinct  was  carried 
against  them.     Both  Leon  and  Jefferson  gave  large   majorities 
against  the  Ring,  and  anti-Ring  delegations  were  elected.     When 
news  reached  Stearns  that  the  Ring  had  been  defeated  in  these 
counties  he  became  wrathful  with  his  manipulators  and  sleep  left 
his  eyes,  until  a  plan  was  devised  to^change  this  most  damaging 
result.     Another  council  was  called,  this  time  in  the  Executive 
office,  and  there  it  was  determined  to  instruct  the  legal  County 
Returning  Boards  to  throw  out  sufficient  precincts  in  each  of  the 
counties  to  show  majorities  for  the  Ring  candidates.     In  Leon 
county  DeL^eon,  who  had  failed  to  commit  fraud   at  the  Micco- 
sukie  precinct,  made  affidavit  that  some  illegal  votes  were  polled 
at  that  precinct.     Though  the  affidavit  did  not  state   who  voted 
illegally  nor  for  what  candidate  these  illegal  votes  were  cast,  the 
precinct  was  thrown  out  by  the  Board,  which  consisted  of  Major 
E.  C.   Weeks,  Sheriff;  a  so-called  Justice  of  the  Peace,    Samuel 
Snowden,    colored,     appointed    for    the  purpose,    and   Samuel 
Walker,  County  Judge,  who  voted  No.   Sufficient  precincts  were 
thrown  out  in  Jefferson  county  to  secure  the  election  of  the  Ring 
candidates.     Geo.  W.  Witherspoon,  headed  the  anti-Ring  ticket 
in  Jefferson  county,  and  the  author  of  this  work  headed  the  anti- 
Ring  ticket  in  Leon  county  for  the  Senate.       There  was  no  Sen- 
ator to  be  elected  in  Jefferson  county,  and  Witherspoon  headed 
the  ticket  for  the  Assembly.     Stearns  and  the   Ring  were   now 
happy,  and  thought  the  war  was  over. 

As  soon  as  these  so-called  canvassers  adjourned  sine  die, 
counsel  was  employed  by  Wallace  and  Witherspoon  to  compel 
an  honest  canvass  of  the  votes.  Judge  R.  B.  Hilton,  Democrat, 
was  employed  by  the  anti-Ring  members  in  Leon  county,  T. 
F.  Clark,  Esq.,  and  Whitfield,  of  Jefferson  county.  Demo- 

crats, were  employed  by  Witherspoon.  These  ^gentlemen  pro- 
ceeded by  a  writ  of  mandamus  against  these  Boards  of  Can- 
vassers, and  Judge  P.  W.  White,  of  the  Second  Judicial  Circuit, 


304  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

who  had  been  appointed  by  Governor  Reed,  granted  a  peremp- 
tory writ  ordering  the  Board  to  count  the  votes  as  returned,  and 
forward  the  same  to  the  State  Returning  Board.  At  one  time 
they  hesitated  to  obey  the  order  of  the  Judge,  for  the  reason  that 
they  thought  if  they  were  ordered  to  prison  it  would  not  really 
be  confinement.  The  sheriffs  of  Leon  and  Jefferson  counties  were 
Ring  carpetbaggers,  but  the  Judge  intimated  to  some  of  their 
friends  that  should  they  disobey  his  order  he  intended  sending 
them  down  into  Wakulla  county  for  imprisonment,  where  the 
'*  Crackers"  were  waiting  with  their  mouths  open  to  take  them 
in.  The  order  was  then  obeyed  without  a  murmur,  and  a  second 
return  was  sent  up  to  the  State  Board  of  Canvassers.  Stearns 
was  still  determined  to  continue  the  counting  out  process.  The 
whites  in  Leon  county  now  became  incensed  at  the  action  of  the 
Governor  and  his  Ring  managers,  and  loudly  denounced  these 
repeated  attempts  at  fraud.  The  anti-Ring  freedii;ien  had  a  con- 
sultation with  some  of  the  whites,  at  which  the  freedmen  came 
to  the  determination  that  it  was  their  duty  to  adopt  the  shot-gun 
policy  against  those  who  should  undertake  to  hold  a  seat  in  the 
Legislature  to  which  they  were  not  elected.  It  was  there  sol- 
emnly agreed  that  if  John  N.  Stokes  was  counted  in  as  Senator 
the  anti-Ring  freedmen  were  to  walk  into  the  Senate  chamber  and 
kill  him  in  his  seat.  The  same  judgment  that  was  to  be  visited 
on  Stokes  was  to  be  visited  on  the  other  members  holding  seats 
by  fraud.  Great  excitement  prevailed  throughout  the  two  coun- 
ties that  had  been  cheated  out  of  their  just  representation,  and 
if  it  had  been  persisted  in,  would  have  caused  a  general  uprising 
of  the  anti-Ring  freedmen,  and  with  the  whites  -as  auxiliaries, 
bloodshed  would  have  been  certain,  with  Stearns  as  the  first  vic- 
tim. Some  of  the  Conover  carpet-baggers  who  had  been  in- 
formed what  would  certainly  take  place  made  haste  to  inform 
Stearns  of  what  would  be  the  certain  outcome  if  the  fraud  were 
persisted  in,  positively  stating  to  him  that  it  could  not  be  con- 
summated without  force  and  violence.  On  the  day  of  the  can- 
vass of  the  vote  by  the  State  Returning  Board  a  large  number  of 
the  freedmen  who  supported  the  Ring,  and  the  anti-Ring  freed- 
men, were  present.  Many  of  themjrom  the  country  brought  with 
them  such  arms  as  they  could  secure,  thinking,  some  of  them, 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA.  305 

that  the  proceedings  under  mandamus  was  a  man  who  was  to 
compel  the  Board  of  Canvassers  to  count  the  true  returns;  they 
declared  if  "Old  man  Daniels"  did  not  count  in  the  rightful 
candidates,  he  and  Stearns  should  be  put  to  death. 

R.  B.  Hilton,  Esq.,  appeared  before  the  Board  and  de- 
manded the  counting  of  the  returns  sent  up  by  the  order  of 
Judge  White,  and  proceeded  to  argue  his  case.  He  denounced 
the  action  of  the  County  Board  of  Canvassers  for  throwing  out 
precincts  without  the  authority  of  law,  and  threatened  a  man- 
damus to  compel  the  Board  to  count  the  true  return  should  they 
fail  to  do  so.  T.  F.  Clark  and  Whitfield  also  appeared  and  ar- 
gued the  case  of  Witherspoon.  Stearns,  in  the  meantime,  fear- 
ing the  consequences,  had  instructed  the  Board'to  count  in  the 
anti-Ring  delegations  from  Leon  and  Jefferson  counties,  and 
sent  for  the  author,  and  after  inquiring  what  would  be  the  result 
should  the  Ring  ticket  be  counted  in,  admitted  the  fraud  and 
said  it  was  done  without  his  approval;  but  his  action  in 
keeping  these  men  in  office  was  sufficient  testimony  of  a  guilty 
knowledge  without  further  evidence.  He  finally  wound  up  by 
saying : 

"The  saddest  thing  under  my  chin — 
The  Wallace  ticket  is  counted  in." 

The  Board,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  arguments  of  coun- 
sel, counted  the  true  returns  from  Jefferson  and  Leon  counties, 
which  elected  the  anti-Ring  delegations.  Purman  was  also 
counted  in  as  a  member  of  the  Assembly  from  Jackson  county. 

19 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The    Beginning  of  the    End.      The   Steivart-Sturtevant    Contest. 
Election  of  United  States  Senator,  and  Miscellaneous  Subjects. 

A  week  before  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1875,  the 
leading  members  of  the  Ring  began  to  assemble  at  the  capital  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  their  secret  candidate  for  Senator. 
Nightly  caucuses  were  held  in  the  Executive  office,  and  the 
counting  of  noses  was  gone  over  every  night  as  to  how  each 
Republican  member  would  probably  stand  on  the  election  of 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly  and  President  of  the  Senate.  The 
Democratic  leaders  also  assembled  in  goodly  numbers  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  their  favorite  candidates.  The  attempted 
frauds  by  the  Carpetbaggers  in  the  counties  of  Jefferson  and 
Leon  was  reasonably  looked  to  by  the  Democrats  to  give  them 
the  organization  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  and  the 
LTnited  States  Senator. 

The  night  preceding  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  a  caucus 
was  called  by  the  Ring  members  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
the  two  houses  next  day.  David  Montgomery,  of  Madison 
county,  carpetbagger,  was  put  forth  for  Speaker,  but  the  colored 
brothers  from  Leon  and  Jefferson,  who  had  been  the  victims  of 
unsuccessful  fraud  by  the  Ring,  hesitated  to  put  a  man  in  the 
chair  who  would  have  no  scruples  in  packing  a  Committee  on 
Privileges  and  Elections  that  would  oust  the  two  anti-Ring 
delegations  from  these  counties.  The  Ring  members  pretended 
that  the  fight  was  over  and  that  the  "lion  and  the  lamb  must 
now  lie  down  together;"  but  the  anti-Ring  delegations  knew 
that  this  meant  that  the  lamb  was  to  lie  down  in  the  lion's  belly. 
Three  days  were  spent  in  the  attempt  to  elect  a  Speaker,  but 
before  the  Speaker  could  be  elected  a  caucus  was  called  of  the 
Democratic,  anti-Ring  Republican  and  Independent  members. 
The  caucus  determined  to  elect  Thomas  Hanna,  Democratic 
member  from  Washington  county,  as  Speaker,  the  other  offices 
to  be  divided  between  the  Democrats  and  the  colored  men.  On 
the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  the  next  day  it  was  evident  that 


308  CARPE'IP.AG   RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

the  scepter  of  the  Legislature  of  Florida  would  in  a  few  minutes 
pass  from  the  hands  of  the  despoilers  and  into  the  hands  of  those 
whose  interest  was  inseparable  from  its  soil  and  whom  Stearns 
afterwards  in  his  message  described  as  being  "as  loyal  and 
patriotic  as  any  people  in  the  Union."  William  Watkin  Hicks, 
of  Dade  county,  put  forth  the  name  of  Mr.  Hanna,  and  Mont- 
gomery was  his  opponent.  Hanna  was  elected  by  a  large 
majority.  The  Democrats,  true  to  their  promise,  then  electedy- 
with  the  assistance  of  the  anti  Ring  members,  H.  S.  Harmon, 
colored.  Chief  Clerk,  and  James  D.  'Hiompson,  colored, 
Sergeant-at-Arms,  Nearly  all  the  minor  offices  were  filled  by 
colored  men.  The  colored  brother  was  now  even  with  the 
Ring  for  the  defeat  of  Osgood  for  S])eaker  in  1874.  The 
election  of  Hanna  utterly  demoralized  tHe  Ring  in  the  Assembly, 
and  it  was  unable  to  muster  its  forces  in  sufficient  number  any 
more  at  this  session  to  misrepresent  those  who  had  voted  for 
them.  In  the  Senate  the  struggle  for  supremacy  was  a  deadly 
one.  By  the  consent  of  the  Republicans,  Senator  J.  L.  Craw- 
ford, Democrat,  was  elected  temporarily  President.  The  Senate 
was  composed  of  twenty-four  members,  and  the  Democrats  and 
Republicans  had  equal  numbers.  The  object  of  the  Republicans 
in  consenting  to  let  Senator  Crawford  preside  as  temporary 
Chairman  was  that  it  would  silence  his  vote;  but  the  Doctor 
decided  that  he  was  not  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  as  a  Senator 
his  vote  could  not  be  questioned.  Ten  days  were  wasted  in  the. 
attempt  to  elect  a  Republican  for  President  pro  iem.^  during 
which  time  Stearns  and  his  Ring  managers  were  holding  secret 
meetings  with  the  Democrats  to  secure  his  election  4:o  the  United 
States  Senate  and  to  have  a  Democratic  President  of  the  Senate 
during  his  canvass  to  secure  his  election  to  the  Senate,  and  thus 
leave  the  State  under  a  Democratic  Governor.  There  were 
plans  and  counter-plans  made  by  the  Democrats,  who  had  no 
faith  in  Stearns'  i)ower  as  to  leaving  the  State  a  Democratic 
(iovernor.  Some  of  the  friends  of  ex-Governor  Walker  suggested 
the  plan  to  elect  an  anti-Ring  colored  man  President  of  the 
Senate.  They  contended  that  this  would  have  the  effect  of 
bringing  to  the  support  of  (iovernor  Walker  all  of  the  anti-Ring 
colored    members,   and    at   the   same    time    would    drive    those 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA  309 

Democrats  who  thought  the  election  of  Stearns  as  Senator  would 
give  them  the  State  government  from  him  for  fear  that  a  negro 
might  become  Governor.  There  were  several  caucuses  held 
looking  to  the  consummation  of  this  plan,  and  the  most  notable 
thing  in  these  caucuses  was  the  sentiment  of  the  ex-slaveholders, 
both  in  and  out  of  the  Senate,  that  they  would  rather  see  an 
honest  ex-slave  in  the  presidential  chair  of  the  Senate  than  to  see 
Stearns  go  to  the  United  States  Senate  by  their  votes,  wnen  they 
believed  him  to  be  a  party  to  all  the  election  frauds  that  had 
been  committed  in  the  State  since  iS68.  The  Democratic 
members  from  the  west  were  almost  unanimous  for  the  election 
of  Stearns,  provided  they  could  get  the  State  government.  The 
struggle  in  the  Senate  contiHued  until  Stearns  was  assured  that 
he  could  be  elected.  A  majority  of  the  Democratic  members 
finally  consented  to  the  election  of  Stearns  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  leaving  them  the  State  government.  Stearns  immedi- 
ately called  a  caucus  of  all  the  Republican  Senators,  to  whom  he 
proposed  the  election  of  A.  L.  McCaskill,  Democrat,  as  Presi- 
dent//-^ tern,  of  the  Senate.  It  was  then  propounded  to  him  by 
both  wings  of  the  Republicans  as  to  whether  he  was  an  aspirant 
for  Senator.  He  solemnly  declared  that  he  was  not,  and  that 
he  would  not  accept  if  elected.  The  caucus  then  adjourned, 
and  within  five  minutes  after  its  adjournment  McCaskill  was 
elected  President  pro  tem.  of  the  Senate,  all  the  Republicans 
voting  for  him  but  one,  and  this  was  Stearns'  henchman  Hill, 
of  Gadsden  county.  The  anti-Ring  Republicans  did  not  know 
exactly  where  they  stood,  nor  did  they  know  where  to  find 
Btearns  until  he  delivered  his  message  to  the  Legislature.  Hear 
him  appeal  to  those  "loyal  and  patriotic  people"  whom  he  and 
his  Ring  followers  had  defrauded  out  of  seats  in  the  Legislature 
for  seven  years:  "It  will  become  your  duty,  on  the  second 
Tuesday  after  your  organization,  to  proceed,  in  accordance  with 
an  act  of  Congress  and  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  to  the 
choice  of  a  United  States  Senator  for  the  term  commencing  the 
fourth  of  March  next.  While  I  am  aware  of  the  great  interest 
felt  upon  this  subject,  and  fully  appreciate  the  importance  of 
securing  an  able  and  upright  representative  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation,  yet  I  venture  the  suggestion  that  the  people  of  the  State 


3IO  CARPETHAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

have  greater  interest  in  the  home  government."  He  here 
attempts  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  Democrats  that  it 
was  their  first  duty  to  get  clear  of  him  by  electing  him  to  the 
Senate  and  leave  A.  L.  McCaskill  Governor.  Again  he 
attempted  to  impress  upon  their  minds  that  should  they  elect 
him  they  would  read  no  ''bloody-shirt"  speeches  from  him;  nor 
would  he  vote  for  any  bill  in  Congress  looking  to  the  protection 
of  all  classes  of  citizens  in  the  State  against  discrimination  on 
account  of  color.  He  says:  ''  Freedom  of  political  opinion  and 
action  has  been  accorded  alike  to  all,  and  recognized  as  an 
essential  principle  of  free  government.  Equal  civil  and 
political  rights  are  denied  to  none,  and  the  most  cordial  good 
will  prevails  among  all  classes  of  our  people.  We  need  no 
Congressional  enactments  or  other  interference  to  secure  to  any 
class  of  our  citizens  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  just  constitutional 
rights,  since  slavery  and  secession  are  things  of  the  past,  buried 
beyond  the  possibility  of  resurrection  ;  since  all  the  States  are 
restored  to  their  constitutional  relations  with  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  true  and  lasting  peace  has  come."  These  utterances 
of  Stearns  took  very  well  with  Democratic  members,  who  were 
not  aspiring  to  the  United  States  Senate,  but  they  fell  like  cold 
water  on  the  politicians,  and  though  he  thought  he  should  cer- 
tainly pull  through,  these  Democratic  aspirants  were  busy  at. 
work  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  this  plan.  The  Demo- 
crats now  commenced  in  earnest  the  memorable  struggle  to  oust 
Sturtevant,  Republican,  from  the  Twenty-first  Senatorial  District, 
and  seat  Stewart,  the  legally  elected  member.  The  following 
report  exhibits  the  real  facts  in  the  case  : 
Hon.  A.  L.  McCaskill,  President  of  the  Senate: 

Sir— Pending  the  investigation  of  the  following  preamble 
and  resolution  : 

Whereas,  Mr.  Sturtevant  holds  his  seat  in  this  Senate  as 
Senator  from  the  Twenty-first  District  illegally  and  unjustly;  and, 
whereas,  the  election  returns  from  Dade  and  Brevard  counties 
show  that  a  large  majority  of  the  votes  cast  were  given  for  Mr. 
Israel  M.  Stewart  as  Senator,  but  by  partisan  trickery  and  fraud 
he  has  been  unlawfully  deprived  of  his  seat  as  such  Senator,  and 
that  Mr.  Sturtevant  now  occupies  the  seat  without  right  and  with- 
out a  shadow  of  title  ;  therefore,  be  it 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  31I 

Resolved,  That  we  declare  the  seat  now  occupied  by  the 
said  Sturtevant  to  be  vacant,  and  that  Israel  M.  Stewart,  the 
Senator  elect,  come  forward  and  be  sworn  in  as  Senator  from 
the  Twenty-first  District. 

The  official  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  as  to  whether 
there  is  any  law  now  in  force  governing  contested  election  cases 
in  this  State,  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and 
Elections,  and  a  thorough  investigation  and  consideration  of  the 
sahie  resulted  in  two  reports.  The  majority  report  fully 
sustained  the  Attorney-General's  opinion,  that  is,  that  the  act 
referred  to  in  Thompson's  Digest  is  now  in  force  in  this  State, 
and  the  report  was  adopted  by  the  Senate.  The  adoption  of  the 
majority  report,  however,  does  not  settle  the  question  as  to  Mr.. 
E.  T.  Sturtevant's  right  and  title  to  a  seat  in  this  Senate.  Per 
cofitra :  the  committeee  are  of  the  opinion  that  inasmuch  as  the 
returns  of  Brevard  county  (one  of  the  counties  composing  the 
Twenty-first  Senatorial  District),  have  not  yet  been  canvassed 
and  counted  by  the  Board  of  State  Canvassers,  his  right  and 
title  to  a  seat  in  this  Senate  is  not  touched  by  the  adoption  of  the 
majority  report.  The  returns  of  the  Twenty-first  Senatoria 
District  must  be  canvassed  and  counted  by  the  Board  of  State 
Canvassers  before  "notice"  of  contest  can  be  legally  served. 
In  January,  1873,  Mr.  Israel  M.  Stewart  petitioned  the  Senate 
to  canvass  and  count  the  returns  of  Brevard  county,  and  pro- 
nounce an  enlightened  and  just  judgment  thereon ;  and  his 
petition,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Senate,  was  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections.  No  legal  or 
other  objection  was  then  raised  against  Mr.  Stewart's  petition. 
Mr.  Sturtevant  did  not  then  raise  the  question  that  "  notice  "  of 
contest  was  not  given,  and  the  legality  of  his  petition  to  the 
Senate  for  a  seat  as  Senator  of  the  Twenty-first  Senatorial 
District  was  unanimously  acknowledged.  But  the  committee^ 
kind  to  Sturtevant,  but  cruel  to  Stewart  and  the  people  of  the 
Twenty-first  Senatorial  District,  pocketed  the  petition.  In 
January,  1874,  the  following  resolution  was  introduced  in  the 
Senate : 

Resolved,  by  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  Florida,  That  Israel 
M.  Stewart,  who  was  duly  elected  as  Senator  from  the  Twenty- 
first  Senatorial  District  of  said  State  at  the  last  regular  election 


312  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN'  FLORIDA. 

held  in  that  District  in  the  year  A.  D.  1872,  be  now  sworn  in  as 
Senator  from  the  Twenty-first  District  of  Florida,  and  that  Mr. 
Sturtevant  is  hereby  declared  as  not  entitled  to  a  seat  on  this 
tloor. 

Mr.  Stewart's  legal  right  to  contest  having  been  recognized 
by  Mr.  Sturtevant  and  the  entire  Senate  in  1873,  could  not  be 
denied  in  1874.  A  majority  vote  of  the  Senate  was  Mr.  Sturte- 
vant's  sheet-anchor  of  hope,  and  as  a  dernier  resort  to  save  him- 
self he  voted  for  himself;  and  notwithstanding  Mr.  Stewart,  in 
the  name  of  his  insulted  and  outraged  constituency,  vigorously 
and  persistently  demanded  his  right  to  a  seat  as  Senator  of  the 
Twent)'-first  Senatorial  District  from  January,  1873,  to  January, 
1875,  ^^^-  Sturtevant  now  says  for  the  first  time  that  ''notice" 
of  contest  was  not  served  on  him.  Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Sturtevant 
cannot  clami  protection  under  the  law  now  in  force  governing 
contested  election  cases  in  'his  State,  the  committee  report 
further  that  at  the  general  election  held  on  the  fifth  day  of 
November,  1872,  in  the  counties  of  Dade  and  Brevard,  com- 
prising the  Twenty-first  Senatorial  District,  E.  T.  Sturtevant  was 
a  candidate  for  the  office  of  State  Senator  in  said  District ;  that 
he  was  also  Judge  of  the  County  Court  of  Dade  county ;  that 
there  was  but  one  precinct  in  said  county;  that  Judge  Sturtevant 
was  made  an  Inspector  at  said  precinct,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
election  on  that  day,  as  Inspector,  he  and  two  other  Inspectors 
solemnly  certified  under  oath  that  the  whole  number  of  votes 
cast  for  State  Senator  in  Dade  county  was  thirty,  of  which 
Israel  M.  Stewart  received  sixteen  and  E.  T.  Sturtevant  fourteen 
— majority  of  two  for  Mr.  Stewart.  This  statement  has  not 
been  denied  at  any  time  or  by  any  person.  Subsequently, 
however.  Judge  Sturtevant  petitioned  himself  as  the  clerk  of  the 
election  and  also  judge  of  the  County  Court,  (and,  furthermore,  a 
candidate  at  said  election  for  the  Assembly — these  two,  E.  T. 
Sturtevant  and  W.  H.  Gleason,  constituting  the  modest  Board 
of  County  Commissioners(  to  set  aside  his  own  return  under  oath 
as  a  precinct  inspector,  and  to  reject  from  such  return  the 
names  of  three  citizens  who  had  voted  for  Israel  M.  Stewart,  al- 
leging as  a  sufficient  reason  for  such  rejection  that  two  of  them, 
citizens  of  foreign  birth,  were  permitted  to  vote  without  produc- 
ing their  naturalization  papers,  and  the  name  of  the  other  did  not 


CARPETBAG  RUT.E  IX  FLORIDA.  313 

appear  on  the  registration  book.     As  Judge  of  the  County  Court 
E.  T.  Sturtevant  took  the  evidence  in  ex-parte  affidavits,  and  as 
one    of    the    Board    of   County    Commissioners  sat   in    judg- 
ment  on    his  own  case,   and  deliberately  declared  his  return, 
made  under  oath,  to  be  illegal,   rejected  the  votes  of  three    citi- 
zens, and  declared  himself  to  have  received  a  majority  of  the 
votes  cast  in  Dade  county.     These  returns  were   on   file   in  the 
Secretary  of  State's  office,  are  in  the  recollection   of  many  Sena- 
tors who  are  present,  and  are  testified  to  by  them.     The  Consti- 
tution of  Florida,  Article  III,  reads— ''The  powers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  State  of  Florida  shall  be  divided  into  three   de- 
partments :  Legislative,  Executive  and  Judicial,   and  no  person 
properly  belonging  to  one  of  the  departments  shall  exercise  any 
functions  appertaining  to  either  of  the    others."  &c.     Now,    if 
Judge  Sturtevant  properly  belonged  to  the  judicial  department, 
and  if  the  function  of  the    legislative  department  is   to  judge  of 
the  returns  and  election  of  its  members,   then   neither  as  judge 
nor  county  canvasser  could  he  make  this  judgement— that  is, 
rejecting  the  votes  of  these  citizens  and  declaring   himself  to 
have  received  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  in  Dade  county ;  nor 
could  the    executive  department  make,    nor  any  act  of  a   pre- 
vious Legislature  be  mandatory  to  a  subsequent  Legislature  as 
to  the  force  and  effect  of  evidence,   either  as  prima  facie  or  con- 
clusive, as  to  the  election  of  their  members ;  for,  as  to  this,  each 
house    is  sovereign  and  absolute    and   must  prescribe  its   own 
rules  of  procedure  in  judging  of  the   qualifications,    elections, 
and  returns  of  its  members.     The  returns  of  Brevard  county 
show  that  the  Avhole  number  of  votes  cast  for  S^^te  Senator  was 
sixty-nine,  of  Avhich  Israel  M.  Stewart  received  thirty-nine,    C. 
B.  Magruder  seventeen  and  James  Payne,  Sr.,  thirteen,  a  major- 
ity of  nine  for  Mr.  Sturtevant  over  all  the  other  candidates.     Mr. 
Sturtevant  received  not  a  single  vote  in  Brevard  county.     It  is 
alleged  that   from  accidental   or  other  causes  the  returns  from 
Brevard  county  were  not  received  in  time  for  the  Board  of  State 
Canvassers,  and  not  until  after  a  certificate  had  been   given   to 
Mr.  Sturtevant,  bottomed  on  his  own  certificate  of  the  vote   of 
Dade  county,  showing  a  majority  of  one  over  Stewart  in   said 
county.     That    the  returns  of  Brevard  county  were  filed  with 


314  CARPETIJAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

the  Board  of  State  Canvassers  and  subsequently  submitted  to  a 
committee  of  the  Senate  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  is  within 
the  recollection  of  many  Senators  who  are  present  and  testified 
to  bv  them.  Also  the  committee  are  in  possession  of  a  certified 
copy  of  the  returns  on  file  in  the  clerk's  office  of  Bre- 
vard county.  The  facts  here  stated  are  known  to  be  true 
by  at  least  one-half  of  the  Senators  present;  they  are  proven 
to  a  demonstration,  beyond  all  question,  have  not  been  de- 
nied, and  are  without  just  ground  of  objection.  The  aggregate 
number  of  votes  cast  for  State  Senator,  in  the  Twenty-first  Sena- 
torial District  on  the  fifth  day  of  November,  1872,  foots  up 
thus  :  For  Israel  M.  Stewart,  fifty-two  ;  for  C.  B.  Magruder, 
seventeen ;  for  E.  T.  Sturtevant  fourteen,  and  for  James  Payne, 
Sr.,  thirteen  — majority  for  Stewart  thirty-eight  over  Sturtevant, 
and  of  eight  over  all  the  other  candidates,  that  is,  Magruder, 
Sturtevant  and  Paine. 

Your  committee  present  this  case  as  one  most  extraordinary 
in  its  various  phasesjof  moral  turpitude.  A  just  regard  for  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  Senate,  a  decent  "respect  for  public 
opinion,  for  the  offended  laws  and  the  principles  long  estab- 
lished for  the  government  of  judicial  and  legislative  procedure 
demands  an  unqualified  censure  by  every  Senator.  The  stat- 
utes of  this  State,  the  rules  of  every  court  of  law,  the  customs 
of  every  country,  and  our  own  natural  sense  of  justice  between 
men — all,  all  forbid  that  a  man  shall  be  a  judge  in  his  own 
case ;  yet  we  have  here  the  legislative  power  of  the  Senate  held 
for  years  by  a  Senator  so-called  under  a  decision  made  by  him- 
self on  his  own  certificate,  and  kept  in  the  Senate  by  his  own 
vote,  without  an  election  of  the  people,  swearing  that  he  is 
qualified  for  the  office  of  Senator  under  the  Constitution,  and 
seemingly  without  hesitation.  In  conclusion  the  Committee 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  by  the  Senate,  That  E.  T.  Sturtevant  was  not 
elected  as  Senator  of  the  Twenty-first  Senatorial  District,  and  is 
not  entitled  to  a  seat  in  this  Senate,  and  that  Israel  M.  Stewart 
was  elected  as  Senator  at  the  regular  election  held  on  the  fifth 
day  of  November,  1872,  and  that  he  be  now  sworn  in  as  Senator 
of  the  Twenty-first  Senatorial  District. 

John  L.   Crawford,  Chairman. 

A.  D.  McKiNNON, 

F.  A.  Hendry. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 


315 


The  minority  report  admits  the  election  of  Stewart,  but  con- 
tends that  no  notice  was  given  to  Sturtevant  of  the  contest.  The 
minority  report  was  too  barefaced  for  any  decent  man  to  sign, 
and  though  the  carpet-baggers  wrote  the  report  which  is  signed 
by  Frederick  Hill,  colored,  it  is  evident  that  Durkee,  carpet-bag 
Senator  from  Duval  county,  refused  to  sign  it  because  of  its  ad- 
mission of  fraud  and  oppression.  Hill,  therefore,  was  made  the 
cats-paw  for  "society  carpet-bag  gentlemen."  When  the  ma- 
jority report  was  read  it  created  a  stampede  among  Republican 
Senators,  and  it  was  some  time  doubtful  whether  the  Ring  mem- 
bers could  hold  their  grip  b}^  drawing  tightly  the  party  lines. 
The  Democrats  resorted  to  every  thing  they  possibly  could 
which  they  thought  would  secure  to  them  that  majority  of  one 
which  they  were  entitled  to.  The  carpet-baggers  and  Governor 
Stearns,  on  the  other  hand,  brought  every  thing  to  bear  to  re- 
tain Sturtevant  in  his  seat.  The  "Little  Giant,"  L.  G.  Dennis, 
was  put  forward  by  Stearns  as  the  carpet-bag  leader  of  the  Sen- 
ate for  the  express  purpose  of  keeping  Sturtevant  in  his  seat,  and 
to  also  make  him  more  influential  throughout  the  State  among 
the  freedmen  preparatory  to  leading  them  to  the  standard  of 
Stearns  in  his  struggle  for  the  nomination  for  Governor  in  1876, 
should  he  miss  the  United  States  Senate.  Pending  the  discus- 
sion of  the  report  of  the  committee,  sometimes  the  Democrats 
would  outgeneral  the  "Little  Giant,"  and  he  would  thereupon 
order  the  Republicans  to  leave  the  Senate  without  a  quorum. 
This  went  on  for  several  days,  when  the  Democrats,  getting  tired 
of  this  fighting  and  retreat  tastics,  ordered  the  Sergeant  at- Arms 
to  take  to  his  assistance  two  other  persons  and  arrest  the  ab- 
sconding members.  The  Republican  members  were  at  the 
house  of  a  citizen  taking  dinner  when  the  two  assistants  came  in 
and  seized  the  worst  looking  fellow  in  the  crowd.  It  turned  out 
that  the  man  whom  they  thought  could  be  easily  carried  was  the 
worst  customer  of  the  lot.  This  was  Parlin,  of  Escambia 
county.  No  sooner  had  they  seized  him  than  he  drew  an  old 
revolver — about  half  a  yard  long  it  seemed  to  be — and  com- 
menced firing  m  the  direction  of  the  two  assistant  Sergeant-at- 
Arms,  who  returned  the  fire,  but  fortunately  no  one  was  hurt. 
The  news  in  a  short  time  was  all  over   town  and  great  excite- 


310  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

ment  prevailed.  The  "Little  Giant"  then,  to  get  up  a  bloody- 
shirt  sensation,  in  company  with  three  or  four  of  the  absconding 
Senators,  marched  up  and  down  the  streets  with  revolvers  m 
their  hands,  cursing  Democrats.  This  pleased  some  of  the  more 
simple  of  the  freedmen  on  the  streets,  for  they  thought  that 
Dennis  was  a  good  "Publican."  The  absconding  Senators  did 
not  return  to  the  Senate  until  next  morning,  when  all  sorts  of 
resolutions  were  introduced  denouncing  the  conduct  of  the  as- 
sistant Sergeant-at-Arms.  After  Dennis  had  exhausted  all  his 
parliamentary  law  and  the  other  Republican  members  had  seen 
Stearns'  giant  cleaned  up,  each  Republican  member  commenced 
leading  himself.  Senator  McCauley,  Democrat,  from  the  Elev- 
enth Senatorial  District,  had  been  set  upon  by  the  carpet-bag- 
gers as  an  offset  to  Sturtevant,  and  every  time  the  question  of 
Sturtevant's  right  to  a  seat  was  called  up  they  would  call  in  ques- 
tion the  seat  of  McCauley.  There  was  no  ground  whatever 
upon  which  to  question  the  right  of  McCauley  to  a  seat.  To  put 
an  end  to  the  matter — as  no  Republican  Senator  dared  to  put 
in  Stewart  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  the  author  of  this  work  made 
the  point  that  neither  Sturtevant  nor  McCauley  could  vote  upon 
the  question, as  both  were  interested  that  the  other  should  go  out. 
Of  course  the  Chair  ruled  that  McCauley  could  vote  and  Sturte- 
vant could  not.  The  Chair  was  appealed  from,  and  on  that 
appeal  involving  the  question  of  McCauley's  right  to  vote,  he 
was  prevented  from  voting,  and  the  Chair  was  not  sustained  in 
his  ruling.  This  ended  the  farce  of  attempting  to  get  Sturtevant 
out.  The  Senators  of  the  previous  Senate  were  responsible  for 
this  outrage  on  a  free  ballot;  and!while  this  Senate  was  also  not 
blameless,  yet  they  had  something  behind  which  they  could  hide 
the  shame  of  the  crime  in  the  shape  of  res  judicatia.  There  are 
two  acts  of  mine,  committed  during  these  days  of  reconstruction, 
which  I  regret:  that  of  voting  to  sustain  Sturtevant,  and  voting 
for  Stearns  for  Governor  in  1876. 

The  Democrats,  now  baffled  in  the  attempt  to  oust  Sturte- 
vant, turned  their  undivided  attention  to  the  election  of  U.  S. 
Senator.  Some  of  them  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  electing  Stearns 
to  the  Senate,  while  the  larger  number  of  them,  influenced  by 
aspirations  for  Senatorial   honors,  vigorously  oi)posed  this  plan. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  317 

The  colored  brothers  now  held  first  class  diplomas  of  a  seven 
years'  course  of  instruction  from  carpetbag  university  of  bribery 
and  fraud  in  Florida,  and  if  they  did  not  practice  what  they  had 
been  taught  in  this  school,  ic  was  because  manly  instinct  forbade 
them.     General  caucuses  and   demagogue  speeches   would  not 
bring  them,    nor  could  the   "corner"  caucuses  control    them. 
The  carpetbag  aspirants  found  it  necessary  to  treat  them  as  they 
did  white  carpetbag  members  of  the  Legislature — that  is,  to  give 
champagne  and  oyster  suppers  for  their  entertainment,  at  which 
supper  the  aspirant  must  be  present  and  partake  with  his  guests, 
and  approach  them  on  the  subject  of  the  Senatorship,  and  those 
who  could  be  bought  got  something  worth  the   name  of  bribe- 
taking.    Although  the    colored   brothers  held  these  diplomas, 
but  a  very  small  minority  of  them  at  this  session  of  the  legisla- ' 
ture  availed  themselves  of  the  benefits  of  their  education.     The 
Democrats,  in  the  canvass  which  had  just  closed,  had  denounced 
from  the  stump  the  many  acts  of  bribery  committed  by  the  Re- 
publican members  of  the  Legislature,  and  it  had  its  effect,  at  least 
upon  the  mind  of  the  average  colored  member,  who  now  saw 
that  both  branches  of  the  J.egislature  had  been  lost  to  the  Re- 
publicans,  which   loss  was   greatly  attributed  to  these  acts  of 
bribery.     There  was  a  good  deal  of  money  spent  by  different 
carpetbag  aspirants  to  secure  the  coveted  prize  of  Senator,  but 
the  colored  brother  made  it  a  businessjto  take  what  money  he 
could  get  and  all  the  merchandise  the  briber  could  muster  up 
before  he  was  called  upon  to  vote,  and  then  vote  against  the 
candidate  of  the  briber.      For  an  illustration  :  George  Wither- 
spoon,    colored,   was   approached    by  a  Jew  to   vote  for  Gov. 
Walker   for   Senator.     This  was   without  Walker's    knowledge. 
This  Jew  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  ex-Governor,  and  thought 
if  Witherspoon  could  be  secured  that  the  whole  delegation  from 
Jefferson  County  would  follow.     The  Jew  had  his  doubts  about 
Witherspoon,  but  promised  to  pay  him  five  hundred  dollars  and 
all  the  merchandise  he  needed  for  his  family  if  he,  Witherspoon, 
would  vote  for  Gov.  Walker — the  Jew  being  a  merchant  at  the 
time.     Witherspoon  was  not  the  man  to  let  this  chance  pass,  but 
said  he  thought  the  money  and  goods  must  be  had  before  voting. 
The  Jew  objected  to  this,  and  asked  W.  G.  Stewart,  who  was 


3l8  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

postmaster  at  the  time,  as  to  whether  Witherspoon  could  be 
trusted  with  his  five  hundred  dollars  or  not.  Stewart  informed 
him  that  he  did  not  care  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  affair. 
The  lew  then  made  Witherspoon  swear  that  he  would  vote  for 
Gov.  Walker  when  the  time  arrived,  which  oath  Witherspoon 
did  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  take.  The  money  was  paid, 
and  Witherspoon  also  had  free  access  to  the  store  of  the  Jew, 
and  silks  and  finery  to  the  amount  of  several  hundred  dollars 
were  added  to  the  money  consideration  for  the  -coveted  vote. 
The  Jew  was  now  in  great  glee  and  anticipated  a  splendid  suc- 
cess. When  the  roll  was  called  on  the  vote  for  Senator,  With- 
erspoon voted  for  Samuel  Walker,  Republican.  This  startled 
the  Jew,  who  went  inside  the  bar  of  the  Assembly  chamber  and 
requested  Witherspoon  :  "Give  me  that  ting  back,"  meaning  the 
money  and  goods  aforesaid.  Witherspoon  contended  that  he 
had  voted  for  Walker,  but  the  Jew  insisted  that  it  was  not  the 
Walker  agreed  upon.  Witherspoon,  to  get  rid  of  him  and  yet 
retain  the  goods  and  money,  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice  threatened 
to  have  him  arrested  for  attempted  bribery,  when  the  Jew,  fear- 
ing the  conse([uences,  begged  him  to  say  no  more  about  the  mat- 
ter and  he  might  have  both  money  and  merchandise. 

Some  of  Gov.  Walker's  friends  had  secured  another  Repub- 
lican vote,  as  they  thought,  which  would  certainly  carry  the 
ex-Governor  through.  This  man  was  Charles  Avery,  carpetbag- 
ger from  Leon  county.  When  the  roll  was  called  in  the  joint 
session  Gov.  Walker  received  one  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast — 
Avery  voting  for  Walker.  The  Democratic  members  were  so 
much  elated  over  the  election  of  Walker  that  they  -could  not  re- 
main in  their  seats,  and  one  of  them — Duncan,from  Hamilton — 
ran  across  the  chamber  and  shook  his  fist  in  the  face  of  W.  W. 
Hicks,  Independent.  The  Republicans  now  began  to  *cry: 
"Treason!"  "Sold  out,  sold  out!"  The  outcry  being  against 
Avery — some  swearing  that  he  ought  to  be  killed.  Avery,  not 
being  strong  enough  to  stand  the  fire,  after  the  excitement  had 
somewhat  abated,  arose  and  informed  the  presiding  officer  that 
his  vote  was  cast  for  Samuel  Walker,  Republican.  In  the 
meanwhile  Governor  Walker  had  been  sent  for  by  his  friends 
and  informed  that  he  had  been  elected   United  States  Senator. 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  KLUKIDA.  319 

The  Governor  hurried  to  the  scene.  He  tells  us  that  as  he  was 
nearing  the  Assembly  Chamber  the  sun  began  to  rise  higher  and 
higher,  and  as  he  turned  to  walk  up  the  steps  to  the  hall  his 
pathway  got  brighter  until  he  reached  the  hall,  when  he  was 
informed  that  it  was  a  mistake— he  had  not  been  elected.  The 
sun  by  this  time  had  begun  to  set,  and  the  elements  became 
darker  and  darker,  until  there  was  not  a  ray  of  Senatorial  light 
anywhere  around  him.  The  vote  cast  by  Avery  was  undoubt- 
edly cast  for  Governor  Walker,  but  he  was  intimidated  into  de- 
claring that  it  was  intended  for  Samuel  Walker.  Samuel  Walk- 
er had  opposed  the  election  of  Avery  in  the  election  just 
closed,  and  was  even  a  candidate  against  him  for  the  Assembly. 

After  the  Walker  failure  the  Democrats  became  very  de- 
spondent relative  to  the  election  of  any  of  the  Democratic  aspir- 
ants, and  Stearns  was  again  secretly  pushed  forward  by  his 
friends.  By  some  means  not  entirely  known.  Col.  Horatio  Bis- 
bee  had  secured  the  supi)ort  of  most  of  the  Independents, 
and  if  Stearns  had  been  true  to  him  he  would  have  been  elected. 
Stearns  set  apart  a  day  for  the  election,  and  the|whole  power  of 
his  rotten  administration  was  to  be  brought  to^bear  to  secure  the 
election  of  Bisbee,  and  he  held  back  the  appointments  in  most 
of  the  counties  to  accomplish  this  end — at  any  rate,  he  gave  this 
as  his  reason  for  holding  them  back.  All  of  the  members  of  the 
Teon  county  delegation  would  have  voted  for  Bisbee  if  Stearns 
would  have  agreed  to  send  to  the  Senate  for  confirmation  anti- 
Ring  officers' for  that  county.  This  he  agreed  to  do;  but  feeling 
confident  that  this  would  secure  the  election  of  Bisbee  and  defeat 
his  combination  with  the  Democrats,  he  refused  to  carry  out  his 
promise  before  the  day  arrived  for  the  election,  which  caused 
the  Leon  and  Alachua  county  delegations  to  vote  for  some  other 
candidate. 

The  next  attempt  to  elect  a  Democrat  was  made  by  S.  B. 
Conover,  United  States  Senator.  Hon.  John  A.  Henderson, 
who,  when  Conover  was  elected  Senator  in  1873,  and  Stearns  as 
Lieutenant-Governor  undertook  to  cheat  him  in  the  open  joint 
session  out  of  his  election,  demanded  fair  play,  was  now  settled 
upon  by  Conover  and  the  Democrats  to  be  elected  on  a  certain 
day.     This  movement  was  only  revealed  to  those    Republicans 


320  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   FLORIDA. 

who  were  to  vote  for  Henderson  and  to  the  Democratic  mem- 
bers. The  plan  was  that  three  colored  Re[)ublicans  should  be 
absent  when  the  roll  was  called  in  joint  session  and  thus  leave 
the  Democrats  in  the  majority,  when  all  of  them  were  to  vote 
for  Henderson.  Ten  minutes  before  the  joint  session  met  the 
Republican  members  of  the  Senate  received  a  note  from  Judge 
J.  D.  Westcott  stating  that  three  colored  men  were  out  (men- 
tioning their  names),  and  that  Henderson  would  be  elected  that 
day.  This  news  was  conveyed  to  all  the  Republican  members 
of  both  Houses  and  to  the  freedmen  on  the  streets,  and  a  gener- 
al outcry  was  made  among  the  faithful  to  bring  back  the  sheep 
that  were  lost.  Houses  were  searched  and  buggies  were  sent  in 
every  direction,  and  the  cry  of  treason  could  be  heard  from  the 
mouth  of  every  colored  brother,  who  was  urged  on  by  the  subtle 
carpetbaggers,  all  adding  fury  to  the  excitement.  The  three 
stray  sheep,  hearing  the  furious  howls  of  these  would-be  wolves, 
soon  made  their  appearance,  and  were  thrown  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  carpetbag  shepherds  and  safely  landed  in  the  fold. 
There  was  great  rejoicing  among  the  ninety-and-nine,  and  Hen- 
derson was  defeated. 

AV.  W.  Hicks,  whose  peculiar  mission  seems  to  have  been 
to  elect  Bisbee  fo  the  United  States  Senate — while  he  was  pro- 
fessing to  be  Independent,  and  Bisbee  was  considered  by  the 
Democrats  to  be  a  very  obnoxious  partisan — now,  maddened  at 
the  defeat  of  Bisbee,  arose  in  the  joint  session  and,  after  charg- 
ing bribery  to  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  in  a  very  elabor- 
ate speech  nominated  C.  W.  Jones  of  Escambia  county  for  Sena- 
tor. This  somme::sault  of  Hicks  fell  flat  and  Jones  fell  with  it, 
but  only  to  rise  again  when  the  Stearns  plan  was  exposed.  The 
election  of  Stearns  was  then  thought  to  be  assured,  but  unfortu- 
nately for  him  the  Little  Giant  was  overheard  in  the  darkness 
of  the  night  explaining  to  another  carpetbagger  how  the  thing 
was  to  be  done.  Stearns  was  to  appoint  George  E.  Wentworth, 
carpetbagger  of  Escambia  county,  Lieutenant-Governor  on  the 
day  he,  Stearns,  was  elected  Governor.  Wentworth  would  take 
possession  of  the  Executive  office  as  soon  as  Stearns  was  elected, 
when  he  was  to  hand  in  his  resignation  of  the  office  of  Govern- 
or to  Wentworth.     The  first  act  of  Wentwoi  th  in  his  new  capac- 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  32  I 

ity  was  to  accept  this  resignation.  This  was  to  be  kept  secret 
from  the  Democrats  until  Stearns  had  crossed  the  Senatorial 
gulf.  The  next  day  this  plan  became  noised  abroad  among 
some  of  the  Republicans,  but  it  was  doubted  by  some  of  the 
Democrats,  who  thought  they  would  soon  be  in  possession  of 
this  strong  carpetbag  fortification.  Geo.  P.  Fowler,  white  Re- 
publican, but  not  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  proceeded  post 
haste  to  the  boarding-house  of  that  old  Democratic  veteran,  J. 
L.  Crawford,  and  demanded  to  see  him  at  once.  The  doctor 
hesitated  to  get  out  of  his  bed,  as  the  night  was  very  cold  and  it 
was  raining,  but  Fowler  said,  "I  must  see  you."  The  doctor's 
curiosity  now  being  excited,  he  got  up  and  received  the  tidings 
of  the  messenger.  Fowler  then  informed  him  that  Stearns  had 
appointed  Geo.  E.  Wentworth  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  which 
appointment  was  not  to  be  made  known  until  after  Stearns  was 
elected  United  States  Senator.  He  said  he  got  his  information 
as  an  eye  witness,  having  seen  the  commission  signed  by  Stearns, 
and  that  its  authenticity  could  not  be  doubted;  and  urged  the 
doctor  to  inform  all  the  Democrats  of  this  treason  at  once.  The 
doctor,  in  less  than  an  hour  after  receiving  this  intelligence,  had 
informed  every  Democratic  member  of  the  Legislature.  The 
Stearns  stock  from  this  hour  went  down  to  rise  no  more  in  the 
Senatorial  market. 

The  Ring,  in  the  session  of  1873,  voted  for  J.  D.  Westcott 
upon  an  agreement  of  controlling  the  Federal  offices,  and  was  now 
given  an  opportunity,  by  the  Leon  county  delegation,  to  again 
vote  for  him.  Westcott,  who  had  been  severely  criticized  by 
some  of  the  whites  for  allowing  his  name  to  be  used  by  the  ring 
in  the  previous  Senatorial  struggle,  had  alienated  himself  from 
them  and  had  gone  in  with  the  anti-ring  Republicans.  Of  course 
the  Ring  had  pledged  each  other  to  touch  no  one  for  any  office 
who  was  not  aUied  to  them,  and  the  Democrats  would  not  vote 
for  him  because  they  desired  that  he  should  remain  on  the  Su- 
preme bench.  C.  W.  Jones  now  made  another  attempt.  When 
he  had  come  within  one  vote  of  the  necessary  number,  he  arose 
from  his  seat  and  addressed  the  presiding    officer   of  the  joint 

20 


^2  2  CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

assembly,  and  said,  ''that  in  behalf  of  fifteen  hundred  voters 
whom  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  I  cast  my  vote  for  C.  W. 
Jones."  M.  Martin  then  rose  and  cast  his  vote  tor  C.  W.  Jones," 
thereby  giving  him  two  majority,  when  Jones  withdrew  his  own 
vote.  The  Democrats  did  not  rejoice  very  much  over  Jones' 
election,  as  he  was  not  their  choice.  This  ended  the  last  circus 
of  carpetbag  Senatorial  elections  in  the  Florida  Legislature,  after 
taking  twenty-five  ballots. 

Stearns,  furiously  mad  on  account  of  his  defeat,  now  turned 
his  whole  attention  to  the  gubernatorial  nomination  of  1876. 
No  Republican  could  be  appointed  to  office  without  swearing 
allegiance  to  him  and  his  ring.  The  anti-ring  Republicans  in 
the  Legislature,  anticipating  his  object,  went  to  work  to  defeat 
all  nominations  sent  to  the  Senate  under  such  contract.  What- 
ever may  be  said  about  the  white  people's  unfriendly  attitude  to 
the  Republican  party  in  the  State,  they  showed  a  willingness, 
when  such  names  were  sent  to  the  Senate,  to  vote  against  their 
confirmation  if  it  could  be  proved  to  them  that  these  appoint- 
ments were  made  to  suppress  the  anti-ring  freedmen  in  their 
attempts  to  oppose  Stearns. 

C.  H.  Walton,  editor  of  the  Tallahassee  Sentinel,  after  hav- 
ing done  all  he  possibly  could  to  defraud  the  Leon  delegation 
out  of  an  honest  election,  now  came  up  for  State  Printer,  and 
undertook  to  intimidate  this  delegation  into  his  support;  but  the 
delegation,  having  already  humiliated  themselves  by  voting  for 
carpetbag  ring  candidates  for  U.  S.  Senator,  and  in  the  Senate 
by  voting  to  sustain  Sturtevant,  had  made  up  their  minds  to 
swallow  no  more  of  this  deadly  poison,  and  voted  openly  for 
Charles  E.  Dyke,  Democrat,  who  had  demanded  in  his  paper 
an  honest  canvass  of  the  votes  in  Leon  county.  The  ring 
howled  "Treason,"  but  to  no  effect. 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature  the  amendments  proposed  by 
the  former  Legislature  were  adopted,  among  which  was  the 
amendment  abolishing  annual  sessions  and  creating  biennial  ses- 
sions. 

The  claim  of  (iov.  Reed  was  again  considered  by  this  ses- 
sion of  the  Senate,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  e.\amine  the 
claim  made  the  following  report : 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN   B^LORIDA.  323 

*'The  Committee  on  Claims,  to  whom  was  referred  the  claims 
of  ex-Gov.  Reed,  upon  examination  of  the  case,  find  that  it  has 
been  passed  upon  by  special  committees  of  two  successive  ses- 
sions  of  the  legislature,  and  considerable  amounts  reported  due 
him.  They  find,  also,  that  there  are  large  amounts  alleged  to 
have  been  paid  him  on  account  of  the  State,  which  are  denied 
by  him  ;  and  as  grave  legal  questions  are  involved  in  the  final 
adjustment  of  the  accounts,  which  cannot  be  determined  by  your 
committee,  they  therefore  recommend  that  the  whole  matter  be 
referred  to  the  Attorney-General  for  final  adjustment." 

A  bill  was  reported  for  that  purpose  which  was  not  acted 
upon  at  this  session.  Thus  the  pioneer  of  civil  government  in 
Florida,  and  the  restorer  of  peace,  was  denied  justice  at  the 
hands  of  the  people's  representatives.  Nothing  was  done  in  the 
Assembly  with  regard  to  this  claim. 

W.  J.  Purman,  member  of  Congress,  served  as  a  member  of 
this  Legislature,  and  took  part  in  the  election  of  Senator.  A  res- 
olution was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  calling  upon  the  Con- 
gressional delegation  of  our  sister  State,  Georgia,  to  represent 
Florida  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  Conover  and 
Purman  were  here  in  Florida  in  attendance  upon  the  Legisla- 
ture. 

The  carpetbaggers,  having  virtually  lost  their  majority  in  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  both  branches  having  Demo- 
cratic presiding  officers,  were  unable  to  pass  plunder  bills  at  this 
session,  and  the  people  breathed  pure  air.  After  a  session  of 
fifty- two  days  the  two  houses  akjourned  on  the  26th  of  February, 
sine  die.  This  Legislature  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the  last 
carpetbag 'law-making  power  in  Florida. 

The  number  of  representatives  in  the  Legislature  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  during  the  seven  years  of  carpetbag  rule 
in  Florida,  was  six — four  colored  men,  RepubHcans,  in  the  As- 
sembly and  one  in  the  Senate,  and  one  Democrat  in  the  Assem- 
bly, white ;  and  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  contend  that  the 
Southern  white  man  cherishes  no  good  will  for  his  black  brother, 
or  that   "■  no  good  thing  can  come  out  of  Nazareth,"  it  is  only 


324 


CARPETBAG   RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 


necessary  to  say  that  the  colored  men,  however  illiterate,  when 
they  rose  to  address  the  presiding  officers  of  either  branch  of  the 
Legislature,,  were  listened  to  with  marked  attention  by  the  South- 
ern whites,    even    though  sometimes  their    remarks  had   been 
taught  them  by  some  unprincipled  carpetbagger  for  the  purpose 
of  exciting   the  feelings  of  the  whites  against  the  negro.     The 
same   considereation  accorded  them  in  the    open  sessions  was 
maintained  in  the  committee  rooms.     Not  one  word  of  criticism 
or  ridicule  was  ever  heard  from  one  of  them.     They  showed 
themselves  ever  ready  and  willing,  when   the  colored  members 
would  listen  to  them,  to  instruct  them  in  their  legislative  duties. 
Nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  bills  introduced  in  the  Legislature  by 
the    average  colored   member — outside   of    plunder  bills — were 
written  by  Southern  white  men.     The  colored  men  who  began  to 
and  continued  to  study  professions  found  a  ready  friend  in  the 
Southern  white  man,  who  freely  extended  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship to  push  the  ex-slave  to  the  zenith  of  his  profession.     Now 
and  then  you  would  run  upon  some  puppy  in  the  shape  of  a 
Southern  white  man  whose  attainments  in  his  profession  were 
more  in  the  color  of  his  skin  and  in  the  fine  clothes   bought  by 
his  parents  than  in  his  cranium,  who  would  endeavor  to  riducule 
colored  professional  men  who  were  his  superiors  in  the   profes 
sion.     The  carpetbagger,  as  a  general  thing,  did  not  believe  a 
negro  should  aspire  to  any  profession,  nor  would  they  give  him 
any  instruction  as  to  his  profession  unless  the  benefit  of  it  would 
inure  to  some   carpetbagger  in  the  way  of  political  aggrandize- 
ment-.    From  the  very  inception  of  reconstruction  to  this  session 
of  the  Legislature,  whenever  a  colored   man  would  attempt  to 
express  his  opinion  against  the  (juestionable  methods  of  the  gang 
of  adventurers  who  were  in   possession  of  the  government,  he 
would  be  whistled  at,  hissed  at,  and  ridiculed,  while  on  the  floor 
of  the  legislative  hall,  and  his  language  criticised,  to  compel  him 
to  desist  from  opposing  them. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Tiie  Campaign  0/1876 — Preparation  for  Fraud.  Drew  before  the 
Supreme  Court.  Stearns  in  Consultation.  Drew  Inaugu- 
rated. The  Colored  Brother  Worth  a  Promise,  but  not 
Worthy  to  have  it  Fulfilled.  Carpetbag  Legacies  to  the  Colored 
Brother. 

In  the  Spring  of  1875  Stearns  called  the  members  of  the 
Ring  together  in  Jacksonville,  and  at  that  meeting  it  was 
determined  that  he,  and  no  other,  should  be  the  next  Governor 
of  Florida.  W.  W.  Hicks,  who  pretended  to  oppose  the  Ring 
as  an  Independent  at  the  commencement  of  the  Legislatm-e,  was 
appointed  by  Stearns  as  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of 
the  State.  This  at  once  mustered  him  into  the  Ring  as  a 
leading  member.  The  public  schools  and  school  teachers,  as 
far  as  possible,  worked  for  the  nomination  and  election  of  the 
Chief.  In  the  black-belt  counties  any  one  could  get  a  certificate 
to  teach  school  for  the  colored  people  who  would  pledge  him  or 
herself  to  canvass  for  Stearns  in  the  neighborhood  where  they 
were  to  teach,  no  matter  how  illiterate  the  person  might  be.  In 
Leon  County,  where  there  was  the  greatest  opposition  to 
Stearns,  he  had  appointed  the  notoriously  immoral  ballot-box 
stufTer,  Joseph  Bowes,  as  Superintendent  of  Education.  There 
Avas  no  crnne  so  great,  no  act  so  low  but  that  he  was  capable  of 
committing  it. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  form  an  intelligent  conception  of 
some  of  the  colored  teachers  appointed  as  instructors  under  the 
regime  of  Stearns,  the  following  is  given— a  sample  of  what 
came  under  our  personal  observation,  in  an  attempt  to  instruct 
the  pupils  in  arithmetic.  "What  will  ten  hogsheadsfull  of 
molesses  come  to  at  twenty-five  dollars  a  hogshead?"  The 
pupil,  who  had  been  taught  by  better  teachers  under  the 
administration  of  Governor  Reed,  would  protest,  and  inform 
their  professor  that  the  words  were  "hogshead"  and  "  mo- 
lasses;" but  the  professor  would  scold  and  storm  at  them  and 
threaten   to  punish  them  by  a  severe  flogging  if  they  did  not 


326  CARPKTBAG  RULE  IN    FLORIDA. 

accept  his  pronunciation.  The  pupils  would  of  course  have  to 
succumb.  After  finishing  the  arithmetic  lesson  they  must  next 
go  through  the  catechism.  ''Who  is  the  'Publican  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Florida?"  Answer — "  Governor  Starns."  ''Who 
made  him  (Governor?"  Ans.— "The  colored  people."  "  Who 
is  trying  to  get  him  out  of  his  seat  ?"  Ans.—"  The  Democrats, 
Conover,  and  some  white  and  black  Liberal  Republicans." 
'-  What  should  the  colored  people  do  with  the  men  who  is  trying 
to  get  Governor  Starns  out  of  his  seat?"  Ans.—"  They  should 
kill  them."  This  was  done  that  the  patrons,  some  of  whom  could 
read,  v\^ould  be  impressed  by  the  expressions  of  their  children, 
and  would  be  ready  to  put  any  one  to  death  who  would  come 
out  into  the  country  and  say  anything  against  Governor  Stearns. 
In  many  instances  this  teaching  had  its  effect  upon  the  minds  of 
freedmen.  These  teachers  received  from  twenty-five  to  thirty- 
five  dollars  per  month.  The  whole  public  school  system  was 
made  a  powerful  auxilliary  to  the  campaign  fund  of  Stearns  in 
the  year  1875-6.  The  State  Superintendent,  while  possessing 
unquestionable  ability  relative  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  devoted 
his  whole  energy  and  time  to  the  nefarious  canvass  for  the 
nomination  of  Stearns  to  the  utter  neglect  of  the  education  of  the 
masses.  The  same  was  true  as  to  the  Superintendents  of  some 
of  the  black  belt  and  other  counties — organizing  political  chibs 
instead  of  schools. 

At  the  January  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  for 
1876,  Stearns  and  the  Ring  received  a  terrible  black  eye  at  the 
hands  of  that  court.  Stearns  attempted  to  establish  the  validity 
of  the  four  millions  of  bonds  issued  in  aid  of  the  Jacksonville, 
Pensacola  and  Mobile  Railroad  Company.  The  Ring,  after 
having  at  a  previous  session  of  the  Legislature  attempted  to  buy 
out  Holland's  claim,  now  brought  suit  against  him  before  Judge 
Archibald,  of  the  Fourth  Judicial  Circuit,  to  oust  Holland, 
claiming  that  he  had  no  title;  and  to  get  possession  for  the 
State.  The  validity  of  these  bonds  was  not  discussed  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  suit  brought  then  by 
Colonel  Bisbee — who  had  been  employed  by  Stearns  without 
.authority  of  law— and  the  King  thought  they  had  reasonable 
hopes  that  our  Supreme  Court  would  not  dare  to  decide  against 


CARPETBAC;  RULE  IN   FLORIDA.  327 

their  constitutionality.  The  author  of  this  work,  at  the  session 
of  the  Legislature  of  1874,  anticipating  the  object  of  the  Ring  to 
get  possession  of  the  railroad  so  as  to  more  completely  override- 
the  will  of  the  people,  had  a  consultation  with  Charles  E.  Dyke, 
editor  of  the  Floridian,  as  to  the  propriety  of  slipping  a  clause 
into  the  amendments  to  the  State  Constitution  whereby  the  State 
would  be  prohibited  from  owning  stock  in  railroads.  This 
amendment  was  introduced  and  adopted  without  being  noticed 
by  the  Ring,  and  became  a  part  of  the  Constitution  in  1875. 
The  amendment  is  as  follows  :  "The  State  shall  not  become  a 
joint  owner  or  stockholder  in  any  company,  association  or 
corporation."  The  Supreme  Court,  in  rendering  its  opinion, 
said:  "  We  hold  that  the  Governor  is  not  authorized  to  speak 
for  and  in  the  name  of  the  State  in  this  case;  that  there  is  no- 
statute  or  warrant  of  law  which  authorizes  him  to  bring  this  pro- 
ceeding or  set  up  this  claim;  that  the  Governor  cannot,  by- 
pleading  or  otherwise,  bind  the  State  and  fasten  on  her  people 
obligations  for  miUions  of  dollars  without  statutory  authority 
commanding  him  so  to  do."  .  .  .  .  "  So  here  we  have  the 
spectacle  presented  of  the  people  of  Florida,  by  their  representa- 
tives, impeaching  the  Governor  who  issued  these  bonds,  for  so 
doing  with  intent  to  violate  the  Constitution  and  Act  of  1870, 
and  the  present  Governor,  Stearns,  employing  private  counsel 
and  using  the  name  of  the  State  of  Florida  to  fasten  on  the 
people  this  enormous  debt,  under  the  pretext  that  they  are  pro- 
tecting the  State  by  assuming  an  obligation  which  the  State 
never  recognized."  The  Court,  in  commenting  on  the  point 
made  by  Colonel  Bisbee,  Stearns'  private  counsel,  that  Holland 
could  not  raise  the  point  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  bonds, 
said:  "Why?  Because  our  sovereign  Lord  and  King,  that  is,  the 
present  Governor  and  his  private  counsel,  have  seen  fit  to  clairrs 
and  allege  that  they,  in  the  name  of  the  State  and  for  the  State^ 
are  seeking  to  establish  a  lien  on  this  property." 

One  of  the  points  raised  by  Holland  in  the  Circuit  Court 
was  that  the  plaintiff  had  no  cause  of  action.  This  point,  with 
others,  had  been  overruled  by  the  Judge.  The  Supreme  Court, 
after  citing  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  before  mentioned,  de- 
cided that  the  bonds  issued  in  aid  of  the  Jacksonville,  Pensacola 


328  CARPETBAG  RULE  IX  FLORIDA. 

and  Mobile  Railroad  were  unconstitutional,  and  that  the  plaintiff 
had  no  cause  of  action.  Justice  Westcott,  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  Judges  Goss  and  Bryson,  of  the  Circuit  Court,  all 
Southern  men — Bryson  and  Goss,  Republicans,  and  Westcott, 
Democrat — adjudicated  this  important  case.  [See  15  Fla.  Re- 
ports, page  455.]  Stearns  was  one  of  the  leading  impeachers, 
and  this  action  on  his  part  is  only  further  evidence  of  the  utter 
fallacy  of  the  several  attempts  to  impeach  Governor  Reed. 

The  attempt  to  saddle  the  four  millions  of  bonds  on  the 
State,  by  the  Governor,  who  should  have  used  his  official  power 
in  its  interest,  was  a  powerful  campaign  document  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Democrats  in  the  canvass  of  this  year  and  added 
many  votes  to  that  party.  Stearns,  although  defeated  in  this 
scheme,  did  not  relax  his  efforts  to  secure  his  nomination.  The 
Stearns  managers  had,  pending  this  suit,  promised  some  of  the 
freedmen  to  make  them  conductors  and  baggage  masters  in  the 
event  that  it  was  successful.  These  men,  now  seeing  no  hope 
of  the  promises  being  carried  out,  were  rather  left  in  condition 
to  be  captured  by  the  anti-ring  Republicans.  Stearns,  to  offset 
this  tendency,  now  for  the  first  time  informed  them  what  he 
knew  about  certain  lands  around  Lake  Jackson,  in  Leon  county. 
He  had  for  several  years  been  United  States  Surveyor-General, 
and  had  discovered  fractional  pieces  of  Government  lands  around 
this  lake  that  had  been  occupied  for  a  number  of  years  by  the 
white  planters  whose  lands  were  adjoining.  W.  U.  Saunders, 
who  had  been  temporarily  mustered  into  the  ring,  was  employed 
to  bring  this  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  freedmen  in  the 
name  of  Stearns,  and  while  Saunders  would  make  good  fees  in 
securing  entries  for  them,  he  could  also  be  able  to  raise  Stearns 
in  the  estimaation  of  the  freedmen,  many  of  whom  entered  these 
lands,  paying  enormous  fees  to  Saunders,  and  forcibly  took  pos- 
sessesslon  of  them  only  to  be  ousted,  which  was  done  by  pro- 
ceedings for  forcible  entry.  Saunders  informed  them  that  all 
the  lands  and  large  plantations  around  Lake  Jackson  were  Gov- 
tirnment  land,  and  if  Stearns  was  elected  he  would  see  to  it  that 
they  would  get  them  all.  This  was  a  convincing  argument,  and 
many  of  the  freedmen  deserted  the  anti-ring  Rei>ublicnns  and 
wf-nt  in  fnr  Stearns  "to  get  land." 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA  329 

The  so-called  Central  Committee  of  the  Republican  party 
called  themselves  together  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Spring  of  1876 
for  the  purpose  of  calling  a  State  convention  to  nominate  a  can- 
didate for  Governor  and  appoint  delegates  to  the  National  Re- 
publican Convention.  The  Ring,  knowing  that  a  large  majority 
of  the  Republicans  of  the  State  was  opposed  to  their  man  Stearns, 
were  at  a  loss  as  to  where  to  hold  the  Convention  so  as  to  better 
intimidate  and  terrorize  the  delegates  who  should  come  to  the 
convention  against  Stearns,  "for  their  name  was  legion."  At 
the  suggestion  of  Stearns  it  was  agreed  to  hold  this  convention 
at  Madison,  the  home  of  the  carpet-baggers  Eagan  and  Mont- 
gomery, who  were  really  complete  masters  of  the  freedmen,  and 
could  make  some  of  them  do  anything— as  in  the  case  of  Mont- 
gomery, who,  it  was  reported  and  generally  believed,  while  he 
was  tax  collector  of  the  county  became  a  defaulter  for  severa^ 
thousands  of  dollars  and  then  induced  some  of  the  freedmen  to 
set  fire  to  the  court-house  and  thus  destroy  the  tax  records. 
From  the  issuance  of  the  call  for  the  convention  until  and  dur- 
ing its  riotous  session,  whisky  was  the  strongest  argument  used 
to  demorahze  the  colored  people,  with  now  and  then  a  little 
money  thrown  in  to  keep  up  the  hired  loafers  who  did  nothing 
but  follow  up  white  carpet-bag  ballot-box  stuffers  and  halloo 
themselves  hoarse  for  Stearns.  The  school  teachers  of  the  type 
mentioned,  in  this  chapter,  at  the  command  of  the  preliminary 
fraudulent  county  returning  boards,  and  alPthe  county  officers 
were  in  attendance  at  the  precinct  meeting  and  County  Conven- 
tions interfering  with  and  disturbing  the  proceedings  in  riotous 
manner  in  the  interest  of  Stearns.  Through  all  these  outrageous 
exertions  four-fifths  of  the  delegates  sent  to  the  convention  were 
opposed  to  the  nomination  of  Stearns,  and  these  delegates  could 
not  be  bought,  although  repeated  attempts  were  made  to  buy 
enough  of  them  to  secure  his  nomination.  This  faiUng,  on  the 
part  of  the  State  Fraudulent  Returning  Board,  or  Central  Com- 
mittee, of  which  Mr.  E.  M.  Cheney  was  Chairman,  through  the 
direct  order  of  Stearns,  arrogated  to  themselves  the  right  to  say  who 
were  the  legal  delegates  to  the  convention.  This  Committee,  a 
majority  of  whose  members  were  under  the  the  thumb  of  the  Ring, 
actually  took  the  place  of  the  convention,  and  decided  the  eligibility 


330  CAKPETBAO  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

of  the  delegates,  and  without  regard  to  decency  or  justice,  ex- 
cluded every  delegation  that  they  had  any  idea  v/ould  oppose 
Stearns.  In  fact,  the  colored  people  in  the  Black  Belt  Counties 
who  had  sent  up  delegations  solidly  against  Stearns  were  as  com- 
completely  disfranchised  as  they  were  before  being  allowed  to 
vote  by  the  National  Government;  and  if  the  colored  people  had 
known  then  that  Democratic  success  in  the  State  would  be  no 
worse  than  it  hasi  proved,  they  would  have  dragged  that  Com- 
mittee from  their  hiding  place  (for  they  were  locked  up  in  a  room) 
and  hanged  them  to  the  first  limb  of  a  tree  accessible  and  then 
voted  the  Democratic  State  ticket. 

One  of  the  most  amusing  incidents  that  happened  during 
this  mob  was  that  Stearns  desired  to  find  out  whether  Conover 
had  much  money  to  use  in  his  canvas  in  case  the  delegates  who 
were  turned  out  of  the  convention  should  nominate  him  as 
against  Stearns.  He  did  not  want  the  nomination  if  Conover 
had  plenty  of  money,  for  the  reason  that  he  would  not  be  able 
to  buy  him  out  of  the  field  before  the  day  of  election.  W.  H. 
Le  Cain,  carpetbagger,  a  member  of  this  Central  Committee  and 
a  professional  ballot-box  stuffer,  was  sent  to  Conover  as  a  spy. 
He  pretended  that  he  would  vote  to  let  in  the  legal  delegations 
if  Conover  would  give  him  several  thousand  dollars.  Conover 
had  between  five  and  six  hundred  dollars  in  greenbacks,  but 
told  LeCain  to  come  back  in  the  evening,  when  he  would  have 
plenty  of  money.  He  was  staying  with  a  wealthy  citizen  of 
Madison,  and  as  soon  as  LeCain  departed  he  sent  out  and  had 
this  money  exchanged  for  dollars  and  half  dollars  in  silver,  and 
put  it  into  a  shot  bag.  When  LeCain  returned  in  the  evening 
Conover  drew  his  bag  on  him  and  gave  him  to  understand  that 
this  was  a  bag  of  gold,  at  the  same  time  exhibiting  several  gold 
pieces  in  his  hand.  He  told  LeCain  if  he  would  vote  to  put  in 
the  legal  delegations  he  could  have  it  all,  amounting  to  five 
thousand  dollars.  LeCain  wanted  to  see  "the  pig  in  the  bag,'" 
which  the  astute  Conover  refused,  but  he  said:  "You  can  get 
it  all."  LeCain  returned  to  Stearns  with  the  news  of  the  scare 
ity  of  money  with  Conover.  Stearns  was  then  willing  to  take 
the  nomination,  feeling  certain  of  being  able  to  buy  Conover  ofl 
the  field  before  the  election. 


CARPKTBACx  RULE  IN   FLORIDA.  33  I 

The  freedmen  had  been  ordered  in  from  the  country,  and 
large  numbers  from  the  slums  of  the  different  counties  and  cities 
of  the  State,  armed  with  such  weapons  as  were  obtainable,  now 
pervaded  the  city  under  the  influence  of  bad  whiskey,  ready  to 
fight  for  the  despot  Stearns,  and  this  so-called  convention  must 
therefore  go  down  to  posterity  as  nothing  less  than  a  raging  mob, 
with  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  four  members  of  his  Cabinet, 
McLin,  Cowgill,  Eagan  and  Hicks,  as  the  leaders.  One  person 
was  shot  and  several  wounded  by  the  mob,  which  lasted  several 
days,  and  when  the  legally  elected  delegates  became  fully  con- 
vinced that  they  could  not  be  heard  in  the  Stearns  convention 
they  organized  an  open  air  convention  and  nominated  S.  B. 
Conover,  of  Leon  county,  for  Governor,  and  Josiah  A.  Lee,  of 
Sumter  county,  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  a  full  set  of  dele- 
gates to  the  National  Convention.  Stearns,  after  a  hard  fight 
even  with  the  delegates  of  his  own  choice,  was  nominated  for 
Governor.  David  Montgomery,  of  Madison  county,  was  nomi- 
nated for  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  Stearns  mob  then  elected 
delegates  to  the  National  Convention,  but  unfortunately  for  them 
they  very  unwisely  excluded  the  colored  brother  from  the  list  of 
delegates.  The  Conover  convention  headed  its  delegation— 
one-half  of  which  was  colored — with  ex-Governor  Harrison 
Reed.  J.  Willis  Menard  was  also  chosen  as  one  of  the  colored 
delegates.  This  delegation  was  admitted  to  seats  in  the  National 
Convention,  while  the  mob  delegation  was  sent  back  to  Florida 
in  disgrace— that  is  to  say,  any  other  set  of  human  beings  would 
have  considered  it  a  disgrace,  but  it  had  apparently  no  effect 
upon  these  heartless  plunderers. 

The  delegation  to  the  National  Convention  returned  to  the 
State,  and  Conover,  who  had  been  recognized  by  that  body  as 
the  Republican  nominee,  brought  with  hmi  a  letter  from  the 
Republican  National  Committee  recognizing  him  as  the  regular 
nominee  of  the  parly  and  advising  Stearns  to  retire  from  the 
field.  In  the  meantime  the  Congressional  District  Conventions  . 
had  been  called— one  to  meet  in  Tallahassee  and  the  other  in 
Jacksonville,  and  Stearns  had  his  managers  at  work  in  the  sev- 
eral counties  buying  up  the  delegates,  in  order  to  get  himself 
indorsed  by  these  bodies  as  the  regular  nominee  of  the  party. 


;^T,2  CARPETI'.AG  RULE  IX   FLORfDA. 

Conover  delivered  the  letter  brought  by  him  from  the  National 
Committee  to  Stearns,  who  paid  no  attention  to  it,  as  he  was 
confident  that  all  was  well.  When  the  convention  of  the  First  Dis- 
trict was  organized  as  upposed  Conover  man  was  elected  chairman. 
It  was  soon  learned,  however,  that  Stearns  had  secured  him  by 
unfair  means.  This  man  was  R.  H.  Dennis,  colored,  of  Es- 
cambia county.  The  skirmishing  had  not  proceeded  far  before 
George  Washington  Witherspoon,  colored — whom  Stearns  had 
attempted  to  defraud  out  of  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  in  1875, 
and  one  of  the  delegates  who  had  been  disfranchised  at  Madi- 
son— arose  and  declared  for  Stearns.  Of  course  every  one  knew 
what  carried  George  to  that  side.  Before  the  vote  was  put,  the 
author  of  this  work  warned  the  convention  that  if  Stearns  was 
endorsed  he  would  be  defeated;  nevertheless,  he  was  endorsed 
by  the  convention,  after  which  W.  J.  Purman  was  nominated 
for  Congress,  and  the  convention  adjourned. 

In  the  Second  District  John  R.  Scott,  of  Duval,  was  one  of 
the  aspirants  for  the  Congressional  nomination,  and  he  had  a 
very  strong  following.  W.  H.  Sampson,  who  was  Scott's  per- 
sonal and  political  friend,  advised  him  not  to  accept  the  nomi- 
nation, but  to  give  his  support  to  some  one  who  would  be 
friendly  to  him,  and  suggested  that  he  should  see  Colonel  Bis- 
bee,  which  Scott  did.  He  proposed,  if  Bisbee  would  secure  to 
himself  or  his  friend  the  collectorship  of  customs  at  Jacksonville, 
he  would,  when  the  convention  met,  go  in  for  the  Colonel  for 
the  Congressional  nomination  and  advise  his  friends  to  do  so 
also.  Bisbee  agreed  to  this.  He  then  turned  to  Sampson  and 
desired  to  know  what  he  wanted.  Sampson  replied  that  he 
wanted  nothing.  Colonel  Bisbee  then  said  that  in  case  he  was 
nominated  and  elected,  anything  he  could  do  for  him  would  be 
done  with  pleasure — and  thus  the  bargain  was  confirmed.  We 
shall  see  further  on  in  this  chapter  whether  the  colored  brother 
was  "worth  a  promise"  or  not. 

The  District  Convention  met  in  Jacksonville.  Stearns  hav- 
ing been  endorsed  in  the  First  District,  many  of  the  Republicans 
having  come  to  the  conclusion  the  party  was  on  its  last  legs, 
went  in  and  endorsed  him  here  also.  Gen.  J.  T.  Walls  was  an 
aspirant  for  a  third  nomination,  but  Scott,  true  to  his  promise  to 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  333 

Colonel  Bisbee,  threw  his  influence  to  his  support,  and  the  Col- 
onel was  nominated.  The  Conover  State  ticket  still  remained  in 
the  field,  and  the  Democrats  saw  nothing  ahead  but  success. 
The  Democratic  State  Convention  was  called  to  meet  at  Quincy. 
Everything  was  cut  and  dried  for  the  nomination  of  Geo.  F. 
Drew,  of  Madison.  Some  of  the  Democrats  were  opposed  to 
the  nomination  of  Drew,  for  the  reason,  as  they  said,  that  he 
had  blown  both  hot  and  cold  during  the  rebellion.  This  oppo- 
sition was  overcome  by  the  promise  of  some  of  Drew's  friends 
that  he  would  put  ten  thousand  dollars  into  the  State  canvass. 
Drew  was  nominated  as  a  conservative  Democrat,  and  Noble  A. 
Hull,  of  Orange  county,  was  nominated  for  Lieutenant-Govern- 
or. R.  H.  M.  Davidson  was  nominated  for  Congress  in  the 
First  District,  and  Jesse  J.  Finley  received  that  nomination  in 
the  Second  District.  Conover  being  financially  embarrassed, 
was  unable  to  make  a  canvass,  and  informed  Charles  E.  Dyke 
that  he  would  have  to  withdraw  from  the  field  unless  the  Demo- 
crats would  furnish  him  sufficient  money  for  the  expenses  of  the 
campaign.  Dyke,  remembering  the  promises  of  Drew's  friends, 
left  Tallahassee  in  haste  and  went  in  search  of  the  millionaire. 
Drew — unlike  the  self-sacrificing  Bloxham,  willing  to  gives  his 
few  thousands  for  the  redemption  of  his  people — would  not 
recognize  the  promise,  and  refused  to  entertain  Dykes'  proposi- 
tion to  give  Conover  sufficient  money  to  make  his  canvass. 
Things  began  to  look  very  gloomy  for  Conover,  and  to  mislead 
Stearns  and  compel  him  to  make  some  effort  to  get  him  to  with- 
draw, he  issued  a  public  circular  to  his  friends  disclosing  his 
determination  to  remain  in  the  field  until  the  day  of  election. 
This  circular  had  the  desired  effect.  A  private  consultation  was 
had  between  Stearns  and  Conover,  and  an  agreement  was  entered 
into  that,  in  consideration  of  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  dollars, 
Conover  should  withdraw  and  advise  his  friends  to  to  support 
Stearns.  The  money  was  paid,  and  Conover  withdrew,  but  he 
did  not  carry  out  one  very  important  part  of  the  bargain,  name- 
ly, "advise  his  friends  to  support  Stearns."  In  fact,  he  could 
not,  with  any  show  of  decency,  ask  his  friends  to  vote  for 
Stearns.  If  the  Ring  had  suffered  Conover  to  be  the  regular 
nominee  of  the  party  he  would  have  been    elected  by   a   good 


334  CARPETBAG  RULE  IX  FLORIDA. 

majority,  but  the  Democrats  would  have  secured  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature.  Conover  would  have  secured  enough  fair- 
minded  Democrats  to  give  his  administration  a  fair  trial.  Had 
Governor  Reed,  ini872,  resorted  to  one-fifth  oft  he  dirty  work  of 
which  Stearns  was  guilty,  he  would  have  been  renominated  and 
elected  Governor. 

■  Each  party  now  had  their  candidates  fairly  before  the  peo- 
ple for  their  inspection.  The  Democrats  went  into  the  canvass 
with  candidates  whose  integrity  and  honesty  could  not  be  at- 
tacked by  the  Republicans,  except  that  Drew's  Union  record 
was  secretly  assailed  by  Purman  in  a  circular  signed  ''A  True 
Democrat."  On  the  other  hand,  the  Republicans  witnessed  the 
spectacle  of  their  candidate  for  Governor  being  charged  with 
stealing  the  meat  and  flour  given  by  the  government  as  a  chari- 
table contribution  to  helpless  men,  women  and  children,  who 
had  just  emerged  from  two  hundred  years  of  slavery,  many  of 
Avhom  were  clad  in  rags;  the  second  man  on  their  ticket,  Daniel 
Montgomery,  publicly  charged  with  arson  ;  the  third  man  on 
the  ticket,  W.  J.  Purman,  burdened  with  the  crime  of  causing 
the  slaughter  of  the  innocent  victims  of  the  Jackson  county 
troubles;  and  the  fourth  man  on  the  ticket,  Col.  Horatio  Bisbee, 
having  arrested  Democratic  members  of  the  Legislature  on 
trumped  up  charges,  in  order  to  give  the  carpetbaggers  a  ma- 
jority, and  further,  with  attempting  through  the  agency  of  Stearns 
of  attempting  to  fasten  the  illegal  four  millions  of  bonds  upon 
the  State.  The  Colonel  had  for  several  years  been  United 
States  District  Attorney,  during  which  time  these  acts  were  com- 
mitted, and  the  Democrats  laid  them  at  his  door;  and  he  did 
not  then,  nor  will  he  ever  explain  them  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Southern  people. 

Stearns  and  his  helpers  went  forth  to  fill  their  appointments, 
as  planned  by  the  State  Central  Committee.  They  had  not  been 
in  the  field  long  before  they  became  convinced  from  the  outlook 
that  Stearns  would  be  repudiated  at  the  polls.  When  he  returned 
to  Tallahassee  after  filling  his  first  appointment,  he  called  a 
meeting  of  his  intimate  ring  friends  and  informed  them  of  the 
outlook.  At  this  meeting  it  was  decreed  by  McLin,  Eagan, 
Martin,  Montgomery,  L.  G.  Dennis,  Cheney,   and  a  number  of 


CARPETBAG  RUr.E  IN   I  I.OKIDA.  335 

Other  leading  lights,  that  Stearns  should  be  counted  in,  whether 
he  received  sufficient  votes  or  not.     Col.  William  M.    Saunders, 
colored,  was  designated  to  encourage  the  colored  voters,  many 
of  whom  were  doubtful  of  Stearns'  election,   and  were  ready  to 
turn  over  to  the  opposition.     The  author  of  this  work  was  not 
present  at  this  meeting,  but    obtained   his  information  as  to  the 
intention  of  Stearns  and  his  managers  from  Saunders;  and,  judg- 
ing from  their  subsequent  acts,  such  a  decree  was  issued.    Many 
schemes  were  contrived  at  the  Executive  office  to  put  Stearns  in 
as  Governor,  and  among  the  most  notable  were   the  following  : 
First:  That  the  ring  county  officers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  appoint 
the  inspectors  of  election,  should  appoint  only  those  as  Republi- 
can inspectors  who   would   commit  all   the  fraud   that  possibly 
could  be  committed  at  the  ballot  box  in  favor  of  Stearns.   Second: 
In  large  Democratic  precincts  where  the  ring  inspectors  would 
be  watched  so  closely  that  they  could  not  commit  fraud,  gross 
irregularities  were  to  be  committed,  so   that  the   precinct  could 
be  thrown  out  by  the  board  of  county  canvassers.     Third:  In 
Democratic  counties  having  a  full  set  of  Republican  officers,  or 
a  majority  of  the  board  of  canvassers,  Democratic  precincts  were 
to  be  thrown  out  on  account  of  these  irregularities  if  the  people 
would  submit  to  it  without  violence.      Fourth:  If  the  throwing- 
out  process  raised  too  much  excitement,  these  irregularities  were 
to  be  sent  up  to  the  State  Returning  Board,  while  the  action  of 
the  county  board  was  to  be  sent  immediately  to  E.  M.  Cheney, 
chairman  of  the  fraudulent  returning  board  of  the  party  at  Jack- 
sonville,  who    would  prepare  the  papers  for  the  final    count. 
Fifth:  In  the  black  belt  counties  general  repeating  was  to  be  re- 
sorted to  by  the  freedmen,andif  detected,  Stearns,  the  Governor- 
elect,  would  protect  them.     The  'plans  were  so    systematically 
laid  that  those  leading  colored  m.en  who  had  heretofore  been 
lukewarm  toward  Stearns,  now   came  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
would  be  the  next  Governor  in  spite  of  all  opposition.     The  re- 
peating part  of  the  game,  in  Leon  county,  was  placed  by  Stearns 
in  the  hands  of  W.  U.  Saunders,  concerning  whom  we  shall  give 
more  light  hereafter.     These  rules  were  laid  down  by  experts  who 
had  no  difficulty  in  enforcing  their  strict  enforcement.     It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  species  of  fraud  contemplated  in  this  election  was 


336  CARPETBAf;  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

of  about  the  same  order  as  those  practiced  in  the  election  of  1870. 
mentioned  in  the  ninth  chapter,  when  Bloxham  ran  for  Lieutenant- 
(rovernor,  with  the  addition  of  repeating*.  The  Democrats  had 
now  commenced  the  canvass  in  earnest.  Judge  R.  B.  Hilton, 
Democratic  candidate  for  Presidential  elector,  and  Wilkinson 
Call,  commenced  the  canvass  in  the  west,  and  when 
they  had  proceeded  as  far  as  Leon  county  the 
Judge  discovered  that  he  needed  funds;  and  as  the  million- 
aire Drew  had  not  come  up  to  the  promises  of  his  friends,  the 
Judge  found  it  necessary  to  mortgage  sufficient  property  to  B.  C. 
Lewis  &  Sons  to  raise  six  hundred  dollars  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
fraying his  expenses.  This  done,  he  proceeded  with  the  can- 
vass. The  theme  of  his  argument  was  high  taxes  and  carpet-bag 
misrule,  which  awakened  those  Democrats,  Northern  settlers  and 
honest  colored  men  who  had  heretofore  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
Democratic  arguments.  The  great  orator.  Senator  Ben  Hill,  of 
Georgia,  was  called  over  to  "Macedonia  to  help  them."  Hill 
addressed  a  large  concourse  of  both  colors  in  Jefferson  County, 
and  if  there  was  any  doubt  about  the  solidity  of  the  whites  it 
was  dispelled  after  this  speech.  He  also  made  many  converts 
among  the  colored  men.  The  seat  of  war  was  in  Leon  County, 
where  Rev.  W.  G.  Stewart,  colored,  had,  before  Conover  with- 
drew, denounced  Stearns  from  the  stump  in  the  most  severe 
terms  for  stealing  the  freedman's  meat  and  flour.  Stewart  had 
lived  several  years  in  Quincy,  and  had  learned  the  whole  history 
of  the  matter.  Bloxham,  who  had  often  heard  Stewart  arraign 
Stearns  for  this  crime,  was  always  on  hand  at  the  Republican 
meetings  to  remind  the  people  of  what  Stewart  had  said,  and 
gave  us  so  much  trouble  that  we  devised  a  plan  to  dodge  him. 
We  ceased  announcing  our  meetings  by  posters,  and  instead  sent 
men  around  on  horseback  to  give  the  necessary  notice  two  or 
three  hours  before  the  time  of  speaking.  By  this  means  we  got 
clear  of  Bloxham  at  our  meetings.  At  these  meetings  the  people 
would  be  instructed  not  to  go  out  to  hear  Bloxham,  but  for  our 
lives  we  could  not  keep  the  black  brother  away  from  the  silver- 
tongued  orator.  We  would  go  to  a  precinct  and  get  the  brother 
all  right  for  Stearns,  and  would  report  that  all  was  well;  but 
when  wc  would  hear  from  that  precinct  again  Bloxham  had  been 


(•ARPETBA<;  RULE  IN    FLORIDA.  3^7 

there  and  taken  him  back.  This  thing  continued  until  the 
day  of  election.  At  one  of  the  Democratic  demonstrations  in 
Tallahassee,  Stearns'  managers,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  United 
States  troops  into  the  State,  undertook  to  create  a  disturbance. 
The  colored  people  were  in  town  in  large  numbers,  and  of 
course  fearful  of  Democratic  ascendency,  were  much  excited. 
Bowes,  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  instructed  the 
colored  people  to  interfere  with  the  Democratic  procession,  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  intervention  of  the  author  and  W.  G. 
Stewart  perhaps  hundreds  of  innocent  people  would  have  been 
sent  to  untimely  graves.  This  was  towards  the  end  of  the  con- 
test, and  the  average  white  man  had  "blood  in  his  eyes."  Two 
weeks  before  election  the  colored  brothers  in  every  precinct 
were  notified  by  Saunders,  Bowes,  and  other  leaders  that,  unless 
they  voted  as  many  times  as  they  could  on  the  day  of  election 
they  would  be  put  back  into  slavery.  This  trick  had  a  great 
deal  of  weight  with  some  of  the  colored  men  who,  while  hating 
Stearns,  were  afraid  to  trust  the  Democrats.  The  author  of  this 
work  and  W.  G.  Stewart  advised  the  colored  people  to  each  cast 
one  vote  for  Stearns,  and  if  such  votes  would  not  elect  him  let 
him  be  defeated. 

One  of  the  most  daring  acts  of  oppression  during  this  cam- 
paign was  the  conduct  of  Stearns  in  Manatee  county.  Capt. 
John  F.  Bartholf,  Republican,  Clerk  of  Court  in  this  County, 
resigned  the  position  on  account  of  sickness.  He  sent  his  resig- 
nation immediately  to  the  Governor,  and  with  it  the  name  of 
a  man  whom  he  recommended  as  his  successor.  This  was  in 
time  to  have  the  clerk  appointed  before  the  time  for  the  appoint- 
ment;;of,.  inspectors  and  the  making  other  necessary  arrangements 
for  conducting  the  election  had  passed.  Stearns  received  the 
resignation  and  the  name  of  the  man  recommended;  but  now 
was  the  opportunity  to  silence  a  whole  Democratic  county,  for 
to  have  no  clerk  made  it  impossible  to  have  an  election,  and  so 
he  absolutely  refused  to  make  any  appointment.  On  the  day  of 
election  the  white  citizens  of  the  county  showed  themselves 
equal  to  the  occasion.  They  organized  in  each  precinct  a  Board 
of  Inspectors  and  secured  such  papers  as  were  necsesary,  polled 
the  full  Democratic  vote  and  sent  the  returns  to  the  State  Board 

21 


i:v 


CARPETP.A(;   RULF.   IN   FLORIDA. 


of  Canvassers.  In  Leon  county,  on  the  day  of  election,  the 
whites  worked  industriously  among  the  colored  men  and  secured 
at  least  four  hundred  votes  for  the  Democratic  ticket,  nine-tenths 
of  whom  were  not  coerced,  but  cast  their  votes  against  Stearns 
because  they  were  disgusted  with  his  methods. 

The  colored  brothers,  now  following  the  instructions  given 
them  by  Stearns  through  Saunders,  began  to  vote  early  and 
often.  From  the  Georgia  line  to  the  capital  was  a  distance  of 
twentv  miles,  with  three  or  four  precincts  between  those  points. 
They  started  early  in  the  morning  and  voted  at  every  precinct 
on  that  line  of  march  to  the  capital,  and  each  time  the  same 
man  would  vote  under  an  assumed  name.  It  can  be  fairly  esti- 
mated that  at  least  five  hundred  votes  were  secured  in  Leon 
county  alone  by  this  method.  How  much  of  this  repeating  was 
done  in  other  parts  of  the  State  we  shall  not  attempt  to  say;  but 
this  was  a  general  order  to  be  observed  throughout  the  State, 
when  it  could  be  done  without  detection.  The  counties  were 
not  then  divided  into  precincts  as  they  are  now,  and  therefore 
the  voter  could  cast  his  ballot  any  where  in  the  county.  At 
one  of  the  Lake  Jackson  polls,  where  Stearns  had  worked  up 
considerable  influence  through  his  Government  land  informa- 
tion, the  handy  Superintendent,  Joseph  Bowes,  had  camped  all 
night,  carrying  with  him  a  cart  load  of  rifles.  He  had  notified 
the  colored  people  to  meet  him  out  there,  which  was  done. 
He  informed  them  that  Governor  Stearns  had  sent  the  rifles  out 
there  for  their  protection.  On  the  contrary,  the  guns  were 
carried  out  for  his  protection  in  case  the  whites  should  detect 
him  in  his  contemplated  frauds.  Bowes  had  prepared  in  the 
office  of  the  Tallahassee  Sentinel,  the  official  organ  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, several  hundred  tickets  with  the  names  of  the  Republican 
candidates  printed  in  very  small  type.  The  tickets  were  about 
an  inch  and  a  half  long  by  an  inch  wide.  He  opened  the  polls 
on  the  morning  of  election,before  the  hour  designated, and  before 
the  whites  arrived  and  deposited  in  the  box  as  many  of  these 
tickets  as  he  desired.  When  the  whites  arrived  they  felt  confi- 
den  that  something  was  wrong,  but  what  it  was  they  could  not 
exactly  tell,  but  at  the  close  of  the  polls,  when  the  ballot  box 
■V2S  opened  the  secret  was  revealed.     Several  hundred  of  these 


CARPETBAG  RULE  IN  FLORIDA.  339 

''little  jokers"  bounced  out  and  were  counted  just  as  though 
they  had  been  honestly  voted.  The  whites  protested  against 
counting  them,  but  Bowes  and  the  balance  of  the  board  said 
that  they  were  in  the  box  and  must  be  counted.  A  large  major- 
ity was  by  this  means  sent  in  for  Stearns,  from  this  poll,  and 
Bowes  was  lionized  by  the  Governor  and  his  managers  for  this 
heroic  act. 

Before  the  polls  closed  on  the  day  of  election  the  Stearns 
managers  sent  up  the  cry  of  fraud,  and  commenced  to  send 
messages  to  different  parts  of  the  State  to  make  good  the  frauds 
and  irregularities  committed  under  their  instructions,  and  turn 
them  to  the  injury  of  the  Democratic  candidates.  United  States 
troops  were  sent  down  to  insure  a  fair  count,  closely  folio «\'ed  by 
the  "visiting  Statesmen."  There  have  been  many  things  said 
throughout  the  country  about  a  bargain  between  the  Democrats 
and  Republicans,  with  reference  to  the  State  being  given  to 
Drew,  the  Democratic  nominee  for  Governor,  and  to  Hayes,  the 
Republican  nominee  for  President.  The  facts  are  these: 
The  Tilden  managers  from  the  North,  Sellers  and  Biddle, 
were  simply  caught  in  the  trap  that  Stearns  had  set  for 
them.  The  Stearns  managers  commenced  filing  affidavits 
before  the  Board  of  Canvassers,  and  Sellers  and  Biddle 
insisted  that  the  Democrats  should  do  the  same.  Judge  Hilton, 
N.  L.  Campbell  and  George  P.  Raney  became  disgusted  with 
these  know-alls,  and  contended  that  the  powers  of  the  board 
were  purely  ministerial ;  but  as  these  gentlemen  were  from  New 
York,  and  were  sent  by  Tilden,  their  judgmentprevailed.  Hayes 
was  more  fortunate  than  Tilden,  as  he  had  the  Governor  at  his 
back,  as  well  as  a  majority  of  the  canvassing  board.  From 
abroad  were  General  Barlow,  William  E.  Chandler,  Gen.  Lew 
Wallace,  Governor  Noyes  and  others,  all  managers  on  behalf  of 
Hayes.  This  board,  waiting  for  affidavits  from  some  of  the 
counties,  the  returns  from  which  had  not  been  sufficiently  doc- 
tored, delayed  the  commencement  ot  the  canvass.  The  Tilden 
managers,  not  knowing  what  the  Hayes  managers  meant,  ap- 
plied to  the  Judge  of  the  Second  Judicial  Circuit,  P.  W.  White, 
for  a  mandamus  commanding  the  board  to  commence  the  can- 
vass.    Pending  the  consideration  of  the  petition,  the  board  com- 


340  CARPETBAt;  RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

menced  the  canvass,  and  the  proceedings  under  the  petition  were 
discontinued.  The  board  decided  that  it  had  power  to  hear  evi- 
dence as  to  the  legality  or  illegality  of  votes  cast  in  a  county, 
and  to  add  to  or  exclude  votes  from  the  returns  sent  up  by  the 
county  boards  of  canvassers.  During  the  canvass,  which  lasted 
several  days,  the  little  band  of  conspirators  could  be  seen  at 
night  hovering  around  Stearns  in  hi^  room  at  the  City  Hotel,  re- 
lating to  him  what  they  intended  to  do  in  the  final  result.  The 
Democratic  lawyers  were  wasting  time  and  breath  when  they 
undertook  to  argue  a  point  before  the  two  so-called  Republican 
members  of  the  board  unless  their  argument  would  keep  on  the 
fraud  inaugurated.  Just  before  the  final  result  it  seems  that 
something  broke  loose  among  the  conspirators,  and  it  was  whis- 
j)ered  around  that  one  of  them,  Cowgill,  was  about  to  cave. 
Whether  this  was  true  or  not  we  are  not  able  to  say ;  but  the 
Hon.  W.  E.  Chandler  was  much  excited  about  something,  and 
wanted  a  thousand  dollars  at  once,  and  M.  Martin,  carpetbagger 
from  Gadsden  county,  gave  him  the  money.  How  much  more 
was  raised  we  never  learned.  wShortly  after  this  money  was 
given  the  excitement  ceased.  In  order  to  keep  down  any  ex- 
citement and  to  commit  Attorney-General  Cocke  to  the  process 
of  excluding  votes,  the  conspirators  agreed  to  take  up  Clay 
county,  where  twenty-nine  votes  were  rejected  by  the  Board  of 
County  Canvassers  which  were  cast  for  Drew,  and  six  votes 
were  rejected  that  were  cast  for  Stearns.  .These  votes  were  now 
added  to  the  respective  candidates,  the  Attorney-General  voting 
with  the  conspirators  for  their  restoration.  Some  of  the  Demo- 
cratic managers  thought  this  a  very  impartial  beginning,  and 
were  jubilant  at  the  result;  but  Judge  Hilton,  who  sat  in  the 
Amen  corner  of  the  Democratic  party,  thought  it  boded  no  good 
for  the  final  result,  and  gave  them  Lochiel's  warning.  They 
next  came  to  Manatee  county,  and  here  the  real  intention  of  the 
conspirators  was  made  apparent.  The  board  rejected  the  whole 
vote  of  this  county  upon  the  ground  that  it  appeared  in  evidence 
that  there  were  such  irregularities  and  fraud  in  the  conduct  of 
the  election  in  receiving  votes  of  persons  not  registered,  and  on 
account  of  there  being  no  registration,  and  consequently  no  legal 
list  of  qualified  voters,   no  designation  of  voting  places,  and  no 


CARPETBAC.   RULE   IN   FI.ORIDA.  34  I 

notice  of  election.     Cocke,  the  Attorney-General,  now  began  to 
vote  "No."     In   Hamilton   county   a  Democratic  precinct  was 
deducted  from  the  returns  upon  the  grounds  of  violation  of  the 
election  law  and  of  fraud.     Five  votes  were   deducted  from  the 
returns  of  Hernando   county   upon   the   ground   that  they  were 
illegally  cast.     Five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  votes  were  deducted 
from  the  returns  of  Jackson  county  upon  the   ground   of  fraud 
and  irregularity.   When  Leon  county  was  reached  the  Democrats 
showed  conclusively  that  the  ballot  box  at  Lake  Jackson  precinct 
had  been  stuffed  with  the  "little  jokers,"  and  moved  to  throw  it 
out,  but  the  conspirators  voted  No.     Two  votes,  however,  were 
deducted  upon  the  ground  that  they  were  illegally  cast.     From 
Jefferson  county's  returns  sixty-one  votes  were   deducted  upon 
the  ground  that  they  were  fraudulently  cast.     Seven  votes  were 
deducted  from  the  Orange  county  return  upon   the  ground  that 
they  were  illegally  cast.      From  the   returns   of  Monroe  county 
the  vote  of  a  whole  precinct  was  deducted   upon   the  ground  of 
irregularity   and  fraud.     Judge  Cocke,  not  to   be   inconsistent, 
voted  with  the  conspirators,  except  upon  the  rejection  of  Man- 
atee, Monroe,    Hamilton  and  Jackson   counties.     Thus   it  was 
that  nine-tenths  of  the  irregularities   committed   were   in  Demo- 
cratic  counties,    and  were   the   work  of  officers   appointed    by 
Stearns  for  that  very  p  irpose,  and  of  which  he  and  his  managers 
reaped  the  benefit.     A    majority  of   four  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  for  Drew  was  turned  into  four  hundred  and  fifty-eight  for 
Stearns.      A  majority  of  ninety-three  for  Tilden  was  turned  into 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-eight  for   Hayes.     The  board  having 
completed  its  dishonest  work,  adjourned  without  delay.     If  the 
Tilden  managers  had  let  this  board  go  on   and   make  their  can- 
vass, and  had  then   applied  to  the  Supreme  Court   for  a  manda- 
mus to  compel  them   to   count   the  returns  as  sent    up   by  the 
county  boards  of  canvassers,  Tilden  would  have   received,    what 
he  was  really  entitled  to,  the  electoral  vote  of  Florida. 

The  conspirators  were  now  happy  in  anticipation  of  the  re- 
turns of  both  masters,  Stearns  and  Hayes.  McLin,  one  of  the 
conspirators,  and  one  of  the  then  editors  of  the  Tallahassee 
Sentinel,  cameout  in  a  long  editorial  declaring  that  one  of  the  fixed 


342  CARPETBAH   RULE  IN  FLORIDA. 

things   of  the  times  was  that  Stearns  would  be  the  (xovernor  of 
Florida  for  the  next  four  years. 

The  visiting  statesmen  returned  to  the  North  and  the  Flor- 
ida lawyers  now  began  to  set  up  shop  for  themselves.  R.  B 
Hilton,  N.  L.  Campbell  and  Geo.  P.  Raney,  on  the  T3th  day 
of  December  filed  in  the  Supreme  Court  a  petition  for  a  writ  of 
mandamus,  and  entered  a  motion  for  an  alternative  writ  to  be 
issued  according  to  the  prayer  of  the  petition,  which  asked  that 
the  Board  of  State  Canvassers  be  compelled  to  reassemble  and 
canvass  the  returns  as  sent  up  by  the  County  Boards  of  Can- 
vassers or  show  cause  why  they  should  not  do  so.  Hie  al- 
ternative writ  was  issued,  and  Stearns  employed  J.  P.  C.  Em- 
mons, who  had  been  so  successful  in  Gov.  Reed's  case,  to 
defend  his  title  before  the  court.  The  board,  in  their  first  an- 
swer, raised  the  question  of  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  which 
answer  was  afterwards  amended  showing  upon  what  grounds 
the  votes  from  the  several  returns  were  not  counted  as  sent  up. 
The  counsel  of  Drew  demurred  to  the  answer  of  the  respondent. 
The  demurrer  was  sustained  by  the  court  and  a  peremptory  writ 
was  issued,  commanding  the  board  to  count  the  votes  from  the 
face  of  the  returns.  Of  course  there  is  no  answer  to  any  such 
writ,  but  the  conspirators  undertook  to  tiifle  with  the  court 
and  filed  a  protest  instead  of  executing  its  mandate.  The  court 
then  intimated  clearly  to  the  conspirators  what  they  might  ex- 
pect if  its  mandate  was  not  immediately  obeyed.  The  con- 
spirators, viewing  the  iron  bars  of  the  prison  house  in  fear  and 
trembling,  with  weeping  eyes  returned  and  made  the  canvass. 
The  second  canvass  gave  Drew  195  majority  over  Stearns,  and 
the  Hayes  electors  214  over  Tilden.  The  board  in  this  canvass 
threw  out  the  returns  from  Clay  county  so  as  to  save  the  Hayes 
electors.  Cocke,  the  Attorney-General,  submitted  a  protest  to 
the  court  against  the  throwing  out  of  Clay  county.  Tlie  board 
did  not  recanvass  the  vote  for  Congressmen.  Purman  had  been 
counted  in  by  295  majority,  and  Bisbee  by  141  majority.  Bis- 
bee  retained  his  seat  but  Parman  was  ousted.  As  there  was 
nothing  before  the  court  but  the  prayer  of  the  relator  to  have 
the  vote  for  (Governor  canvassed,  the  court  struck  from  the  return 
to  its  order  all  that  related   to  the  canvass  of  votes  other  than 


CAKrETBAc;   RULE  IN   KLORIDA.  343 

those  for  (iovernor,  saying  :  that  because  the  respondents  had 
encumbered  the  records  of  the  court  with  unnecessary  matter,  in 
which  the  court  was  not  concerned,  they  do  pay  the  cost  of 
the  proceeding. 

Stearns,  looking  back  over  the  hard  labor  of  his  plundering 
career,  and  seeing  that  the  packing  of  juries,  the  prostitution  of 
the  public  schools,  the  disfranchising  of  whole  counties,  mob 
conventions,  planned  irregularities  in  elections,  the  public 
money  expended  to  get  posession  of  railroads,  and  the  whole- 
sale stuffing  of  ballot  boxes  had  availed  nothing,  still  was  loath 
to  give  up  the  Government  when  he  was  actually  in  sight  of  the 
])ron-)ised  land.  He  called  a  consultation  of  the  Ring  chiefs  at 
the  City  Hotel  and  required  to  know  from  them  whethtr 
they  would  support  him  should  he  maintain  that  he  was  Governor, 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing. With  one  voice  they  all  answered  yea !  The  understand- 
ing was  that  all  the  colored  people  in  the  surrounding  country 
should  be  notified  that  Stearns  would  be  inaugurated  on  the  day 
set  apart  by  the  constitution,  and  they  were  notified  accord- 
ingly. Some  of  the  carpetbaggers  doubted  the  propriety  o  fdeiy- 
ing  a  Republican  Supreme  Court,  but  the  "  Litde  Giant"  de- 
clared if  Stearns  did  not  hold  on  to  the  Government  he  would 
kill  him.  The  day  before  Drew  was  to  be  inaugurated  Stearns 
saw  many  strange  faces  in  Tallahassee  among  the  whites,  and  he 
began  to  grow  pale  and  talk  weak.  The  "Little  Giaut "  now 
.seeing  that  Stearns  was  about  to  yield  up  the  ghost,  went  out 
and  filled  himself  with  the  red  beverage  of  hell  and  came  to  the 
hotel  to  murder  him,  and  he  would  have  attempted  to  do  so,  if 
he  had  not  been  locked  in  a  room  and  detained  until  he  fel^ 
asleep.  In  the  meantime  the  whites  had  made  great  prepara- 
tions for  the  inauguration  of  Drew.  Early  the  next  morning 
Drew  and  Stearns  were  seen  coming  out  of  a  house  together,  as 
though  they  had  been  holding  a  long  consultation.  The  whites 
we're  on  hand  from  Georgia  and  from  all  parts  of  the  State  in 
large  numbers,  and  the  confiding  freedmen  came  also  to  see  the 
inauguration  of-Stearns.  Drew  seems  to  have  made  it  all  right 
with  Stearns  or  Stearns  with  Drew;  and  Stearns  procured  a 
team  and  drove  into  the  countrv  while   Drew  was  inaugurated. 


344 


CARPETBAG  RULE   IN  FLORIDA. 


The  whites  had  stationed  in  an  old  cotton  storehouse  close  by 
the  capital,  between  three  and  five  hundred  men,  armed 
with  repeating  rifles,  with  the  intention  of  slaughtering 
the  men  who  might  attempt  to  inaugurate  the  defeated  candi- 
date. Everything,  however,  passed  off  quiedy,  and  the  new 
liovernor  was  inaugurated  amidst  the  shouts  of  thousands  of 
glad-hearted  people,  both  white  and  black,  who  now  boasted 
that  their  votes  had  done  the  work.  Thus  ended  the  eight  years 
of  carpetbag  famine  and  pestilence. 

The  Democrats,  as  soon  as  the  Legislature  was  organized 
in  1887,  passed  a  law  for  the  organization  of  a  new  Board  of 
Canvassers,  consisting  of  Democrats,  and  caused  a  recanvass  of 
the  electoral  vote  of  the  State  as  sent  up  by  the  Republican 
County  Boards,  which  showed  that  Tilden  had  carried  the  State 
by  ninety-three  majority.  The  certificate  of  this  result  was  sent, 
one  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  one  to  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Horatio  Bisbee,  now  snugly  seated  in  Congress  for  two 
years,  put  there  through  the  influence  and  labor  of  the  indefait- 
gable  Scott — was  looked  upon  as  being  above  any  political  tur- 
jjitude  toward  his  black  brother.  He  was  now  put  in  a  position 
to  use  the  great  traits  which  he  was  supposed  to  possess,  and  to  re- 
member the  promises  made  to  his  colored  benefactor,  but  before 
the  cock  crowed  thrice  he  had  denied  Scott.  Gen.  Hopkins, 
of  Jacksonville,  a  Democrat,  was  appointed  Collector  of 
Customs  without  the  knowledge  or  indorsement  of  Scott,  and 
was  confirmed.  Elder  Sampson,  who  had  been  with  Scott  when 
the  bargain  was  made,  and  to  whom  the  Colonel  had  also  offered 
.service,  chanced  to  have  his  son  Walter  at  Washington  learning 
the  trade  of  tyi)e-setting.  He  thought  this  an  excellent  chance 
to  have  the  Colonel  do  something  for  him,  and  accordingly  ad- 
vised his  son  to  reijuest  his  aid  in  procuring  a  situation  in  the 
Government  ])rinting  office.  Walter  made  the  re^juest,  but  was 
put  off  from  time  to  time  with  the  recpiest  to  ''call  again,"  until, 
as  he  said,  his  shoes,  his  patience  and  his  money  became  ex- 
hausted, and  he  gave  up  the  pursuit.  Some  time  afier  Congress 
^i\d  adjourned  the  Colonel  came  back  to  Jacksonville,  and  Samp 
son  somewliat  astonished  at  his  conduct,  called  upon  liim  to  know 


carpi:  IliAG  RULE  IN    II.ORIDA.  345 

Avhy  the  promise  had  not  been  fulfilled.  The  Colonel  replied 
that  if  Scott's  name  had  been  sent  to  the  Senate  his  incompetency 
would  have  defeated  his  confirmation.  "But,"  said  Sampson, 
"Colonel,  was  that  the  understanding?"  The  Colonel,  not 
caring  to  hear  any  more  about  the  promise,  said  abruptly — "Oh 

h 1,  I  have  something  else  to  attend   to,"  and  then  quietly 

strode  away. 

Although  the  carpet-bag  Government  was  overthrown  in 
1876,  a  certain  property  was  bequeathed  to  the  colored  people 
by  the  carpet-baggers  which  has  been  and  still  is  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent very  damaging  and  burdensome  to  them.  They  left  upon  the 
minds  of  thousands  of  our  people  the  impression  that  the  drunk- 
ard, the  thief  or  the  most  ignorant  were  as  fit  to  represent  them 
in  the  government  as  the  most  intelligent  and  upright  men  of  the 
race.  They  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  thousands  of  our  peo- 
ple the  idea  that  the  great  privilege  of  the  suffrage  is  a  purchas- 
able merchandise;  that  political  meetings  and  conventions  must 
be  run  and  controlled  by  mobs,  so  that  peaceable  and  intelli- 
gent men  should  not  have  a  hearing  in  them;  that  the  best  way 
to  accumulate  money  and  acquire  an  education  was  to  spend 
their  time  in  gossipping  in  politics.  The  demoralization  in 
which  our  people  were  left  by  the  cari)et-baggers  is  gradually  be- 
ing wiped  out  by  the  labors  of  the  best  men  and  women  and  by 
the  colored  press  of  the  State.  Our  people  are  becoming  fully 
awakened  to  the  necessity  of  the  proper  education  of  their  chil- 
dren. The  greater  portion  of  them,  who  heretofore  spent  their 
time  in  going  around  electioneering  for  the  purpose  of  pulling 
carpet-baggers  into  office  to  the  neglect  of  legitimate  and  profit- 
able occupation,  now  turn  their  attention  to  acc^uiring  property 
and  education.  From  reliable  statistics  it  appears  that  they  have 
accumulated,  since  emancipation,  two  millions  of  dollars  of 
property.  In  all  the  professions,  trades  and  occupations  it  is  ad- 
mitted both  by  our  friends  and  our  foes  that  our  progress  is  sat- 
isfactory, and  in  many  instances  wonderful.  While  our  people 
were  much  excited  and  dissatisfied  with  the  Democratic  ascen- 
dency in  the  State  government  in  1876,  and  while  in  some  local- 
ities they  were  the  victims  of  some  injustice  under  Democratic 
rule,  still  it  has  proved  a  blessing  in  disguise.     The  future  is  full 


^4.6  CARPEinAG   RILE   IN   FLORIDA. 

of  hope.  Prejudice  on  account  of  color  is  passing  away,  and' 
the  negro  has  experienced  his  worst  day  in  this  State.  But  there 
is  one  pillar  under  the  right-hand  corner  of  this  great  edifice  of 
progress  that  is  full  of  decay  and  which  threatens  its  destruction. - 
It  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  our  people,  and  must  be  met  and  de- 
stroyed. Whence  comes  this  threatened  danger?  Strange,  but 
nevertheless  true,  it  proceeds  from  the  house  of  God,  and  its 
name  is  Immorality— Licentiousness.  Numbers  of  immoral  and 
ignorant  men  have  invaded  the  pulpits  of  our  churches  and  are 
using  the  livery  of  Heaven  to  serve  the  devil  in.  In  some  of  the 
church  denominations  the  Board  of  Examination  of  candidates- 
to  preach  are  in  no  better  standing  as  to  morality  and  education 
Than  are  the  candidates,  and  therefore,  often,  unfit  candidates 
have  no  trouble  in  procuring  a  license  to  preach.  In  many  in- 
stances these  disciples  of  Satan  are  frequenters  of  bar-rooms, 
and  their  conduct  is  no  better  than  the  lowest  class  that  fre- 
quents such  places.  These  men  have  in  times  past  been  guilty 
of  every  wrong  that  can  be  committed  against  innocence  and 
virtue,  and  have  violated  every  moral  law  and  obligation.  It 
will  require  energetic  work  and  patient  teaching  to  put  up  the 
bars  against  them.  We  have  as  good  and  virtuous  men  and 
women  among  us  as  are  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world;  and 
these  the  subject  of  this  part  of  this  chapter  will  not  affect,  other 
than  to  cause  them  to  put  forth  greater  efforts  to  stamp  out  this 
curse  from  among  us.  As  a  general  rule  contagious  diseases 
breaking  out  in  a  community  have  their  origm  in  the  most 
filthy  portions  of  that  community,  and  if  not  stamped  out  at 
once,  they  penetrate  to  the  cleanest  dwellings  and  attack  the 
learned  and  wealthy  as  well  as  those  living  in  the  sluiis.  If 
we  will  apply  this  rule  to  the  malady  of  immorality  among  our 
people,  we  may  be  profited  in  every  effort  that  is  made  to  stamp 
it  out.  Immorality  is  one  of  the  worst  enemies  to  the  negro's- 
intellectual  and  material  progress. 

The  End. 


^^.l^FENDIX. 


APPENDIX  A. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  FLORIDA,  1868. 

We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  Florida,  by  our  delegates  in 
convention  assembled,  in  order  to  secure  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  of  life,  liberty  and  prop- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  do  mutually  agree,  each  with 
the'  other,  to  form  the  following  constitution  and  form  of  govern- 
ment in  and  for  said  State. 

ARIICLE  I. 

Section  i.  We  do  declare  that  all  citizens,  subjects  and 
people  of  this  State  are  by  birthright  free  and  equal,  entitled  to 
equal  rights  and  privileges  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States. 

Sec.  2.  No  law  shall  be  made  that  in  spirit  or  intent  recog- 
nizes any  right  of  property  in  man,  nor  shall  slavery  or  involun- 
tary servitude  exist  in  any  form  except  as  punishment  for  crime 
after  due  conviction  in  courts  of  law. 

Sec.  3.  That  all  political  power  is  inherent  in  the  people, 
and  all  free  governments  are  founded  on  their  authority  and 
established  for  their  benefit,  therefore,  they  have  at  all  times  an 
inalienable  and  indefeasible  right  to  alter  or  abolish  their  form 
of  government  in  such  manner  as  they  may  deem  expedient. 

Sec.  4.  That  all  men  have  a  natural  and  inalienable  right 
to  worship  A  mighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
conscience,  and  that  no  preference  shall  ever  be  given  by  law  to 
any  religious  establishment  or  mode  of  worship  in  the  State. 

Sec.  5.  That  no  property  qualificaiion  for  eligibility  to 
office,  or  for  the  right  of  suffrage,  shall  ever  be  required  in  this 
State- 

Sec.  6.  That  every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write,  and 
publish  his  sentiments  on  all  subjects,  being  responsible  for  the 
abuse  of  that  liberty;  and  no  law  shall  be  passed  to  curtail, 
abridge,  or  retam  the  liberty  of  speech  or  of  the  press. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  forever  remain 
inviolate. 


348  APPK.NDIX. 

Sec.  8.  That  the  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers  and  possessions,  from  unreasonable  seizures  and 
searches;  and  that  no  warrant  to  search  any  place,  or  seize  any 
person  or  thing,  shall  issue  without  describing  the  place  to  be 
searched,  and  the  person  or  thing  to  be  seized  as  nearly  as  may 
be,  nor  without  probable  cause  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation. 

Si-x.  9.  That  no  person  shall  be  taken,  imprisoned, or  disseized 
of  his  freehold,  liberties,  or  privileges,  or  outlawed,  or  exiled, 
or  in  any  manner  destroyed  or  deprived  of  his  life,  liberty,  or 
property,  but  by  law  of  the  land. 

Sb-C.  10.  That  courts  shall  be  open,  and  every  person  for 
an  injury  done  him  in  his  lands,  goods,  person,  or  reputation, 
shall  have  remedy  by  due  course  of  law,  and  right  and  justice 
administered  without  sale,  denial,  or  delay. 

Sec.  II.  That  in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  hath 
a  right  to  be  heard  by  himself  or  his  counsel,  or  both;  to  demand 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation;  to  be  confronted  with 
the  witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  ob- 
taining witnesses  in  his  favor;  and  in  all  prosecutions  by  indict- 
ment or  presentment  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury  of  the  county  or  district  where  the  offence  was  committed, 
and  shall  not  be  compelled  to  give  evidence  against  himself. 

Skc.  12.  That  all  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient 
securities,  unless  in  capital  offences  where  the  proof  is  evident  or 
the  presumption  is  strong;  and  the  habeas  corpus  act  shall  not  be 
suspended  unless  when  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  pub- 
lic safety  may  require  it. 

Sec.  13  That  excessive  bail  shall  in  no  case  be  required; 
nor  shall  excessive  fines  be  imposed;  nor  shall  cruel  or  unusual 
punishment  be  inflicted. 

Sec.  14.  That  no  person  shall  for  the  same  offence  be  twice 
put  in  jeopardy  of  life  and  limb. 

Sec.  1 5. That  private  property  shall  not  be  taken  or  ap- 
plied to  public  use  unless  just  compensation  be  first  made  therefor. 

Sec.  16.  That  in  all  prosecutions  and  indictments  for  libel 
the  truth  may  be  given  in  evidence,  and  if  it  shall  appear  to  the 
jury  that  the  libel  is  true,  and  published  with  good  motives  and 
for  justifiable  ends,  that  the  truth  shall  be  a  justification,  and  the 
jury  shall  be  the  judges  of  the  law  and  facts. 

Sec.  17.  That  no  person  shall  be  put  to  answer  any  crimi- 
nal charge  but  by  [)resentment,  indictmet  or  impeachment ;  but 
the  Legislature  may  provide  for  the  trial  of  persons  without  pre- 
sentment  or  indictment  for  crimes  below  felon) . 

Sec.  18.  That  no  conviction  shall  work  corruj)tion  of  blood 
or  forfeiture  of  estate. 

Sec.  19.   That  retrospective  laws  punishing  acts  committed 


APPENDIX  349 

before  the  existence  of  such  laws,  and  by  them  only  declared 
penal  or  criminal,  are  oppressive,  unjust,  and  incompatible  with 
liberty,  wherefore  no  ex  post  facto  law  shall  ever  be  made. 

Sec  20.  That  no  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts 
shall  be  passed. 

Sec.  21.  That  the  people  shall  have  a  right  in  a  peaceable 
manner  to  assemble  together  to  consult  for  the  common  good, 
and  to  apply  to  those  invested  with  the  powers  of  government 
for  redress  of  grievances  or  other  proper  purposes,  by  petition, 
address,  or  remonstrance. 

Sec.  22.  That  no  soldier,  in  time  of  peace,  shall  be  quar- 
tered in  any  house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in 
time  of  war  but  in  a  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  23.  That  no  standing  army  shall  be  kept  up  without 
the  consent  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  military  sha.l  be  in  strict 
subordination  to  the  civil  power. 

Sec.  24  That  perpetuities  and  monopolies  are  contrary  to 
the  genius  of  a  free  people  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed. 

Sec.  25  That  no  hereditary  emoluments,  privileges,  or 
honors,  shall  be  granted  or  conferred  in  this  State. 

Sec.  26.  That  a  frequent  recurrence  to  fundamental  princi- 
ples is  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve  the  blessings  of  liberty. 

Sec.  27.  That  this  State  has  no  right  to  sever  its  relations  to 
the  Federal  Union,  or  to  pass  any  law  in  derogation  of  the  para- 
mount allegiance  of  the  citizens  of  this  State  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  28.  That,  to  guard  against  transgressions  upon  the 
rights  of  the  people,  we  declare  that  everything  in  this  article  is 
excepted  out  of  the  general  powers  of  government,  and  shall 
forever  remain  mviolate,  and  all  laws  contrary  thereto,  or  to  the 
following  provisions,  shall  be  void. 

ARTICLE  IL 

DISTRIBUTIVE  POWERS  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Section  i.  The  powers  of  the  Government  of  the  State  of 
Florida  shall  be  divided  into  three  distinct  departments,  and 
each  of  them  confided  to  a  separate  body,  to  wit:  those  which 
are  legislative  to  one,  those  which  are  executive  to  another,  and 
those  which  are  judicial  to  another. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  or  collection  of  persons,'  being  one  of 
these  departments,  shall  exercise  any  powers  properly  belonging 
to  either  of  the  others,  except  in  the  instance  expressly  provided 
in  this  constitution. 


350  APPENDIX. 

ARTICLE  III. 

EXECUTIVE  DKPARTMEN'I. 

Setion  I.  The  supreme  executive  power  of  the  State  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Governor,  who  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of 
the  army  and  navy  of  the  State,  and  the  militia,  except  when 
called  into  actual  service  of  the  United  States. 

Sec;.  2.  He  shall  be  elected  for  four  years,  and  remain  in 
office  until  his  successor  is  chosen.  He  shall  be  a  natural-born 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  be  at  least  thirty  years  of 
age.  He  shall  have  been  a  resident  of  this  State  at  the  adoption 
of  this  Constitution,  or  for  three  years  next  preceding  his  elec- 
tion. He  shall  hold  no  other  office  under  the  State  or  the  United 
States  while  exercising  the  office  of  Governor. 

Sec.  3.  He  may  require  information  in  Avriting  from  the 
officers  of  the  executive  department  upon  any  subject  relating  to 
their  respective  duties. 

Sec.  4.  He  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the 
Legislature  by  proclamation,  and  shall,  at  the  commencement 
of  every  session,  communicate  in  writing  such  information  as  he 
may  possess  in  reference  to  the  condition  of  the  State,  and 
recommend  such  measures  as  he  may  deem  expedient. 

Sec.  5.  In  all  cases  of  disagreement  between  the  two  houses 
in  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  the  Leg- 
islature to  such  a  time  as  he  may  think  proper,  not  beyond  its 
Tegular  meeting. 

Sec.  6.  He  shall  have  power  to  remit  fines  and  forfeitures, 
pardon,  reprieve,  and  commute,  after  conviction,  for  all  offences 
except  treason  and  cases  of  impeachment,  subject  to  such  regu- 
lations as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  7.  There  shall  be  a  seal  of  the  State,  which  shall  be 
kept  by  the  Governor,  and  used  by  him  officially,  which  shall 
be  the  great  seal  of  the  State. 

Sec.  8.  There  shall  also  be  a  Lieutenant-Governor,  who 
shall  be  an  advisory  officer  of  the  Governor,  and  shall  be  chosen 
at  the  same  time,  and  possess  the  same  qualifications  as  the 
Governor,  and  who  shall,  in  case  of  a  vacancy  by  death,  resig- 
nation, or  otherwise,  in  the  office  of  Governor,  exercise  all  the 
power  and  authority  belongmg  to  that  office.  He  shall  be  ex- 
ofjicio  President  of  the  Senate  during  the  sessions  of  the  General 
Assembly,  but,  except  in  case  of  a  tie,  shall  have  no  vote. 

Sec.  9.  There  shall  also  be  chosen,  at  the  same  time  and 
place,  and  for  the  same  period,  a  Secretary  of  State,  Treasurer, 
Auditor,  Attorney-General,  Adjutant-General,  Superintendent 
of    Public    Instruction,      Commissioner     of    Emigration,     and 


APPEXKIX.  351 

Register  of  Public  Lands.  Any  vacancy  in  the  offices  named 
in  this  and  the  preceding  section  occurring  by  death,  resigna- 
tion, or  otherwise,  to  be  filled  by  appointment  of  the  Governor, 
with  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  holding  the  offices  until  the  next 
general  election. 

Sec.  10.  The  returns  of  every  election  for  the  officers  named 
in  this  section  shall  be  sealed  up  and  transmitted  to  the  seat  of 
government  by  the  returning  ofificer,  directed  to  the  presiding 
•officer  of  the  Senate,  who,  during  the  first  week  of  the  session, 
shall  open  and  publish  the  same  in  the  presence  of  a  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  person  having  the 
highest  number  of  votes  shall  be  declared  duly  elected.  But,  if 
two  or  more  shall  be  highest  and  equal  in  votes  for  the  same 
office,  one  of  them  shall  be  chosen  by  the  joint  vote  of  both 
"houses.  Contested  elections  for  executive  officers  shall  be  de- 
termined by  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  such  man- 
ner as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  II.  The  executive  officers  named  in  this  article  shall 
receive  for  compensation  such  sums  per  annum,  payable  quarter- 
annually,  not  less  than  the  following :  Govc-nor,  five  thousand 
•dollars;  Lieutenant-Governor,  four  diousand  dollars;  Secretary 
of  State,  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars;  Treasurer,  three 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars ;  Auditor,  three  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  ;  Attorney  General,  three  thousand  dollars  ;  Ad- 
jutant General,  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  ;  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  three  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars  ;  Register  of  Public  Lands,  three  thousand  dollars ;  which 
sum  shall  not  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the  term  for 
which  they  were  elected. 

Sec.  12.  All  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name  and  by  au- 
thority of  the  State  of  Florida,  be  sealed  with  the  State  seal,  and 
signed  by  the  Governor,  and  attested  by  the  Secretary  of  State. 

Sec.  13.  Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  both  house* of 
the  General  Assembly  shall  be  presented  to  the  Governor.  If 
he  approve,  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not,  he  shall  return  it  with 
his  objections  to  the  house  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who 
shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  upon  the  journals,  and  proceed 
to  reconsider  it ;  and  if,  upon  such  reconsideration,  two-thirds  of 
the  whole  number  voting  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be 
sent,  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  house,  by  which  it  shall  be 
reconsidered;  and,  if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  the  whole  num- 
ber voting,  it  shall  become  a  law.  And  if  any  bill  shall  not  be 
returned  by  the  Governor  within  five  days,  (Sundays  excepted,) 
after  its  having  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  become  a 
law ;  unless  the  General  Assembly,  by  their  adjournment,  pre- 
vent its  return,  in  which  case  it   shall  not  become  a  law.     The 


352  APPENDIX 

same  rule  as  in  this  section  shall  apply  to  e\ery  order,  resolu- 
tion, or  vote,  to  which  the  concurrence  of  both  houses  may  be 
necessary. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

I.KCISI-ATIVE    DEPARTMKN'l'. 

Section  i .  The  legislative  power  of  this  State  shall  be  vested 
in  two  distinct  branches,  the  one  to  be  styled  the  Senate,  the 
other  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  both  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  the  style  of  laws  shall  be, 
"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  State  of  Florida  in  General  Assembly  convened.*' 

Sec.  2.  The  members  of  the  House  of  Represenratives  shall 
be  chosen  by  the  qualified  voters  and  shall  serve  for  the  term  of 
two  years  from  the  day  of  the  general  election  and  no  longer. 
And  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  annual,  and 
commence  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  December  in  each  year, 
until  otherwise  directed  by  law. 

Sec.  3  The  Representatives  shall  be  chosen  every  two  years 
on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  November  until 
otherwise  directed  by  law. 

Sec.  4.  No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  unless  he  be  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  have  been  a  resident  ot 
the  State  at  the  tinje  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  or  for 
two  years  next  preceding  his  election,  and  the  last  six  months 
thereof  a  resident  of  the  county  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen,  and 
shall  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

Sec.  5.  The  Senators  shall  be  chosen  by  the  qualified  elect- 
ors for  the  term  of  four  years,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  same 
manner,  and  in  the  same  place  where  they  vote  for  members  of 
th^House  of  Representatives  ;  and  no  person  shall  be  a  Senator 
unless  he  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  have  been 
a  resident  of  this  State  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Consti- 
tution, or  for  two  years  next  preceding  his  election,  and  the  last 
six  months  thereof  a  resident  of  the  district  or  county  in  which 
he  shall  be  chosen,  and  shall  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years. 

Sec.  6.  The  House  of  Representatives,  when  assembled, 
shall  choose  a  speaker  and  its  other  officers,  and  the  Senate  its 
other  officers,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  a 
President /w  tetnpore,  and  each  house  shall  be  judge  of  the  qual- 
ifications, elections,  and  returns  of  its  members  ;  but  a  contested 
election  shall  be  determined  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  be  directed 
bv  law. 


APPENDIX.  353 

Sec.  7.  A  majority  of  each  house  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
to  do  business,  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 
day,  and  com})el  the  attendance  of  absent  members  in  such  man- 
ner and  under  such  penalties  as  each  house  may  prescribe. 

Sec.  8.  Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  own  pro- 
ceedings, punish  its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and  with 
the  consent  of  two-thirds  expel  a  member,  but  not  a  second  time 
for  the  same  cause 

Sec.  9.  Each  house,  during  the  session,  may  punish  by  im- 
prisonment any  person  not  a  member  for  disrespectful  or  disor- 
derly behavior  in  its  presence,  for  obstructing  any  of  its  proceed- 
ings, provided  such  imprisonment  shall  not  extend  beyond  the 
end  of  the  session. 

Sec.  10.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings, 
and  cause  the  same  to  be  published  immediately  after  its  adjourn- 
ment ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  of  each  house  shall 
be  taken  and  entered  upon  the  journals  upon  the  final  passage  ot 
every  bill,  and  may  by  any  two  members  be  required  upon  any 
other  question,  and  any  member  of  either  house  shall  have  lib- 
erty to  dissent  from  or  protest  against  any  act  or  resolution  which 
he  may  think  injurious  to  the  public  or  an  individual,  and  have 
the  reasons  of  his  dissent  entered  on  the  journals. 

Sec.  II.  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  in  all  cases,  ex- 
cept treason,  felony  or  breach  of  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest 
during  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  going  to  or 
returning  from  the  same,  allowing  one  day  for  every  twenty 
miles  such  member  may  reside  from  the  place  at  which  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  is  convened,  and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in 
either  house  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

Sec.  12.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make  provision  by 
law  for  filling  vacancies  that  may  occur  in  either  house,  by  death, 
resignation,  or  otherwise,  of  any  of  its  members. 

Sec.  13.  The  doors  of  each  house  shall  be  open  whe»  in 
legislative  session,  except  on  such  occasions  as,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  house,  the  public  safety  may  imperiously  require  secrecy. 

Sec.  14.  Neither  house  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the 
other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place 
than  that  in  which  diey  may  be  sitting. 

Sec.  15.  Bills  may  originate  in  either  house  of  the  General 
Assembly;  and  all  bills  passed  by  one  house  may  be  discussed, 
amended  or  rejected  by  the  other ;  but  no  bill  shall  have  the 
force  of  law  until  on  three  several  days  it  be  read  in  each 
house,  and  time  for  discussion  being  allowed  thereon,  unless,  in 
case  of  emergency,  four-fifths  of  the  house  in  which  the  same 
shall  be  pending  may  deem  it  expedient  to  dispense  with  the 
22 


354  APPENDIX 

rule;  and  every  bill  having  passed  both  houses  shall  be   signed 
by  the  Speaker  and  President  of  their  respective  houses. 

Sec.  1 6.  Each  member  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  re- 
ceive from  the  public  treasury  such  compensation  for  his  ser- 
vices as  may  be  fixed  by  law,  but  no  increase  of  compensation 
shall  take  effect  during  the  term  for  which  the  Representatives 
were  elected  when  such  law  passed. 

Sec.  17.  The  session  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  not  ex- 
tend in  duration  over  sixty  days,  unless  it  be  deemed  expedient 
by  a  concurrent  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each 
house ;  and  no  member  shall  receive  pay  from  the  State  for  his 
services  after  the  expiration  of  ninety  days  continuously,  from 
the  commencement  of  the  session. 

Sec.  18.  The  General  Assembly  shall  by,  law,  authorize 
the  Circuit  Court  to  grant  licenses  for  building  toll-bridges,  and 
to  establish  ferries,  and  to  regulate  the  tolls  for  both;  to  con- 
struct dams  across  streams  not  navigated :  to  ascertain  and  de- 
clare what  streams  are  navigable,  but  no  special  law  for  such 
purpose  shall  be  made. 

Skc.  19  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  a  general  law 
prescribing  the  manner  in  which  the  names  of  persons  might  be 
changed,  but  no  special  law  for  such  purpose  shall  be  passed ; 
and  no  law  shall  be  made  allowing  minors  to  contract  or 
manage  their  estates. 

Sec.  20.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  a  general  law 
for  the  incorporation  of  towns,  religious,  literary,  scientific, 
benevolent,  military,  and  other  associations,  not  commercial, 
industrial  or  financial ;  but  no  special  act  incorporating  any  such 
association  shall  be  passed. 

Sec.  21.  No  act  incorporating  any  railroad,  banking,  in- 
surance, commercial  or  financial  corporation  shall  be  introduced 
into  the  General  Assembly,  unless  the  person  or  persons  apply- 
ing for  such  corporation  shall  have  deposited  with  the  Treasurer 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  as  a  bonus  to  the  State. 

Sec.  22.  Officers  shall  be  removed  from  office  for  incapac- 
ity, misconduct,  or  neglect  of  duty  in  such  manner  as  may  be 
provided  by  law,  when  no  mode  of  trial  or  removal  is  provided 
in  this  Constitution.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  pass  a  homestead  law,  by  which  any  public  lands  belong- 
ing to  the  .State  may  be  disposed  of  to  actual  settlers  at  a  nomin- 
al price. 

ARTK  LE  V. 

.iUI)lCI.\L    I'EPARTMKNT. 

Section  i.  'ihe  judicial  powers  of  this  State,  both 
as  to  matters  ot  law   and  equity  shall  be  vested  in  a  Supreme 


APPENDIX  355 

Court,  Court  of  Chancery,  Circuit  Courts,  County  Courts,  and 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  such  Corporation  Courts  as  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  may  establish  ;  but  no  Corporation  Court  shall 
have  criminal  jurisdiction  in  capital  cases,  nor  shall  courts 
have  civil  jurisdiction  above  the  sum  ot  two  hundred  dollars. 

SUPREME    COUR  r. 

Sec.  2.  The  Supreme  Court,  except  in  cases  otherwise  di- 
rected  in  this  Constitution,  shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction 
only,  which  shall  be  co-extensive  with  the  State,  under  such  re- 
strictions and  regulations,  not  repugnant  to  this  Constitution,  as 
may  from  time  to  time  be  prescribed  by  law  :  Provided^  said 
courts  shall  always  have  power  to  issue  writs  of  injunction,  man- 
damus, quo  warranto,  habeas  corpus,  and  such  other  and 
remedial  writs  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  it  a  general  superin- 
tendence and  control  of  all  other  courts. 

Sec.  3.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  three  Justices, 
one  of  whom  shall  be  a  Chief  Justice,  and  shall  be  holden  at 
such  times  and  places  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  The 
Justices  of  the  Supreme,  and  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  shall 
be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  and  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall 
hold  their  office  from  the  date  of  their  appointment  and  con- 
firmation for  the  space  of  nine  years,  unless  sooner  removed 
as  herein  prescribed. 

Sec.  4.  No  man  shall  be  eligible  as  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  unless  he  be  a  citizen  of  the  State  at  the  time  of  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution  :  Provided,  That  from  the  date  of  five 
years  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution  no  man  shall  be 
eligible  as  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  unless  he  shall  have  re- 
sided in  this  State  five  years  next  preceding  the  date  of  his 
appointment  and  confirmation,  and  shall  have  practiced  law  in 
the  courts  of  chancery  and  common  law  of  this  State  two 
years  next  preceding  his  appointment  and  confirmation. 

Sec.  5.  The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  receive 
such  compensation  for  their  services  not  less  than  four  thousand 
dollars  to  each  Justice  per  annum,  as  may  be  fixed  by  law,  which 
shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office,  but 
said  Justices  shall  receive  no  fees,  perquisites  of  offtce,  nor  hold 
any  office  of  profit  under  the  United  States,  or  any  other  power. 

Sec.  6.  There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  a  clerk  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law  : 
Provided,  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  provide  lor 
the  appointment  of  a  reporter,  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed 
by  law. 


^ 


356  APPENDIX. 

CIRCUIT    COURTS. 

Sec.  7.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  convenient  circuits  ; 
and  for  each  circuit  there  shall  be  a  Judge  who  shall,  after  his  ap- 
pointment and  confirmation,  reside  in  the  circuit  for  which  he 
has  been  appointed,  and  shall  receive  for  his  services  a  salary 
not  less  than  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum ; 
but  said  Judges  shall  receive  no  fees,  perquisites  of  office,  nor 
hold  any  other  office  of  profit  under  the  State,  the  United  States 
or  any  other  power. 

Sec.  8.  The  Circuit  Courts  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in 
all  matters,  civil  ,and  criminal,  not  otherwise  excepted  in  this 
Constitution ;  and,  until  the  General  Assembly  shall  establish 
separate  courts  of  chancery,  the  Circuit  Courts  shall  have  juris- 
diction in  all  chancery  cases,  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as 
may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  9.  A  Circuit  Court  shall  be  held  in  such  counties,  and 
at  such  times,  and  places  therein,  as  mayjbe  prescribed  by  law ;  and 
the  Judges  of  the  several  Circuit  Courts  may  hold  courts  for  each 
other,  either  for  the  entire  circuit  or  a  portion  thereof;  and  they 
shall  do  so  when  required  by  order  of  the  Governor,  or  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  and  they  may  exercise  jurisdic- 
tion in  cases  of  writs  of  habeas  corpus  in  any  judicial  circuit  in 
which  the  Judge  may  happen  to  be  at  the  time  the  case  arises. 

Sec  to.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  es- 
tablish and  organize  a  separate  court  or  courts  of  original  equity 
in  jurisdiction. 

Sec.  II.  The  same  qualification,  and  none  other  shall  be 
required  for  eligibility  for  office  for  the  Judges  of  the  Circuit 
Courts  and  Chancellors  as  are  now  required  by  this  Constitution 
for  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  they  shall  hold  their 
office  for  the  space  of  six  years  from  the  date  of  their  appoint- 
ment and  confirmation. 

Sec.  12.  There  shall  be  appointed  for  each  county  in  this 
State,  by  the  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  thereof,  a  clerk, 
whose  duty  shall  be  prescribed  bylaw,  and  who  shall  hold  his 
office  four  years  unless  otherwise  directed  by  law. 

Sec  13.  There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  for  each  county,  in 
this  State,  a  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  whose  duty  shall  be  to 
take  probate  of  wills,  to  grant  letters  testamentary  of  administra- 
tion and  guardianship,  to  attend  to  the  settlement  of  the  estates 
of  decedents  and  minors,  and  to  discharge  the  duties  usually  ap- 
pertaining to  courts,  of  ordinary  and  such  other  duties  as  may  be 
required  by  law,  and  exercise  such  criminal  jurisdiction  not  to 
extend  to  crimes  of  as  high  grade  as  felony,  and  such  civil  juris- 
diction not  to  extend  to  amounts  over  five  hundred  dollars,   as 


APPENDIX.  357 

may  be  prescribed  by  law,  which  County  Court  shall  be  subject 
to  the  direction  of  the  Circuit  Court  by  appeal. 

Sec.  14.  The  Judge  of  the  County  Court  shall  have  power 
to  appoint  a  Clerk  in  certain  counties,  to  be  specified  by  law, 
who  shall  receive  such  compensation  in  fees  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  The  Judges  of  the  County  Court  shall  receive 
such  compensation  for  their  services  as  may  be  prescribed  by 
law;  provided,  the  General  Assembly  shall  fix  the  pay  of  said 
Judges  according  to  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  county  in 
'which  "they  may  preside. 

Sec.  15.  A  competent  number  of  Justices  of  the  Peace 
shall,  from  time  to  time,  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  who 
shall  hold  their  offices  for  four  years  from  the  time  of  their  ap- 
pointment, and  shall  exercise  such  jurisdiction,  criminal  and 
civil,  with  the  right  of  appeal,  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  16.  The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  Judges 
of  the  Circuit  Court,  shall  not  be  removed  from  office  during  the 
term  for  which  they  may  have  been  appointed  and  confirmed, 
except  for  wilful  neglect  of  duty  or  reasonable  cause,  (which 
shall  not  be  sufficient  ground  for  impeachment,)  for  which  the 
Governor  may  remove  any  of  them,  on  the  address  of  two-thirds 
of  the  General  Assembly:  Provided,  however.  That  the  cause  or 
causes  shall  be  notified  to  the  justice  or  judge  so  intended  to  be 
removed,  and  shall  be  admitted  to  a  hearing  in  his  own  defence 
before  any  vote  for  such  removal  shall  pass;  and,  in  such  case, 
the  vote  shall  be  taken  by  yeas  and  nays  and  entered  on  the 
journals  of  each  house,  respectively;  and,  in  cases  of  appoint- 
ment to  fill  a  vacancy  in  said  offices,  the  person  so  appointed 
shall  only  hold  office  for  the  unexpired  term  of  his  predecessor. 

Sec.  17.  Whenever  a  vacancy  shall  occur,  either  in  the  Su- 
preme, Circuit,  or  Chancery,  or  County  Courts,  or  in  the  office 
of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  or  any  other  office  provided  for  in  this 
article  of  the  Constitution,  such  vacancy  shall  be  supplied  by  the 
power  having,  in  this  article  of  the  Constitution,  the  appoint- 
ment of  said  officer,  and  shall  be  for  only  the  unexpired  term 
made  vacant;  but  it  shall  not  be  competent  for  the  Governor  to 
fill  a  vacancy  in  the  Supreme,  Chancery,  or  Circuit  Courts,  ex- 
cept by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate:  provided, 
the  Governor  may  fill  such  vacancy  during  the  recess  of  the 
General  Assembly,  which  shall  be  valid  until  confirmed  or  re- 
jected by  the  Senate. 

Sec.  18.  All  officers  provided  for  in  this  article  of  the  Con- 
stitution, whose  removal  has  not  been  herein  prescribed,  may  be 
removed  for  misbehavior,  or  other  reasonable  cause,  by  the 
power  having  their  appointment;  but  no  such  officer  shall  be  re- 


358 


APPENDIX. 


moved,  except  for  wilful  neglect  of  duty,  or  a  violation  of  the 
criminal  law  of  the  State. 

Sf.c.  19.  The  Justices  of  the  ^Supreme  Court,  Judges  of  the 
Circuit  Court,  and  Justices  of  the  Peace,  shall,  by  virtue  of  their 
offices,  be  conservators  of  the  peace  throughout  the  State. 

Sec.  20.  The  style  of  al  process  shall  be  "the  State  of 
Florida,"  and  all  criminal  prosecution  shall  be  carried  on  in  the 
name  of  the  State,  and  all  indictments  shall  conclude  against  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  same. 

Sec.  21.  There  shall  be  one  Solicitor  for  each  circuit,  who 
shall  receive  his  appointment  from  the  Judge  presiding  over  the 
circuit  for  which  he  shall  be  appointed,  and  hold  his  office  for 
the  same  term  as  the  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court. 

Sec.  22.  No  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  sit  as  a 
Judge,  or  take  part  in  the  Appellate  Court,  in  the  trial  or  hearing 
of  any  case  which  he  shall  have  decided  in  the  court  below. 

Sf.c.  23.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  estab- 
lish in  each  county  a  Board  of  County  Commissioners,  for  the 
regulation  of  county  business  therein. 

Sec.  24.  No  duty,  not  judicial,  shall  be  imposed  by  law 
upon  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Chancellors,  or  Judges 
of  the  Circuit  Courts  of  this  State,  except  in  cases  otherwise  pro- 
vided for  in  this  Constitution. 

Sec.  25.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  appoint  for 
cach  county  in  this  State  one  Sheriff,  and  a  number  of  con- 
stables, to  be  fixed  by  law,  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by 
the  General  Assembly. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

SUFFRAGE  AND  ELK^BILITV. 

Section  i.  All  elections  by  the  people  shall  be  by  ballot, 
and  all  voters  shall  be  registered  at  least  one  day  before  the 
election. 

Sec.  2.  (General  elections  shall  be  held  biennially  on  the 
Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  November,  and  the  term 
of  service  of  State  and  county  officers  elect  shall  commence  on 
the  third  Tuesday  of  December  following. 

Sec.  3.  Every  male  i)erson  of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards 
who  shall  have  been  a  bona  fide  resident  of  this  State  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  or  a  bona  fide  resident 
of  this  State  for  six  months  next  preceding  the  election,  and  a 
bona  fide  resident  of  the  county  in  which  he  offers  to  vote,  for 
thirty  days  next  preceding  the  election,  and  who  shall  not  have 
held  any   office,  civil   or  military,  under  the   Tnited  States,  or 


ATPENDJ-X.  359 

under  any  State,  and  afterwards  engaged  in  insurrection  or  re- 
bellion against  the  United  States,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the 
enemies  thereof,  and  who  shall,  before  registering,  take  and  sub- 
scribe the  following  oath,  shall  be  deemed  a  qualified  voter  at 
any  public  election  in  this  State: 

I^ .  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  am  twen- 
ty-one years  of  age;  that   I   am   a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Florida; 

that  I  have  resided  in  said   State months   next  preceding 

this  day;  days  in  this  county   next  preceding  this  day;  that 

I  have  never  held  any  office  of  honor  or  trust,  civil  or  military, 
under  the  United  States,  or  under  any  State,  and  afterwards 
engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States, 
or  given  anv  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof:  that  I  will 
faithfully  support  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Florida,  and  will,  to  the 
best  of  my  ability,  encourage  others  so  to  do;  that  I  wili  not  in 
any  w^ay  or  manner  injure,  or  countenance  in  others  any  attempt 
to  injure,  any  person  or  persons  on  account  of  past  or  present 
support  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States;  and  that  I  will 
not  deprive  or  attempt  to  deprive  any  person  or  persons  of  any 
civil  or  political  right  on  account  of  race,  or  color,  or  previous 
condition,  or  for  affiliation  with  any  political  party,  which  right 
may  be  enjoyed  by  any  other  class  of  men:  so  help  me  God. 

But  the  General  Assembly  may  remove  the  disability  hii- 
posed  on  account  of  participation  in  the  rebellion  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  each  house. 

Sec.  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
provide,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  registration  of  all  persons 
qualified  by  this  article  as  electors. 

Sec.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
enact  adequate  laws,  giving  protection  against  the  evils  arising 
from  the  use  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  at  elections. 

Sec.  6.  Returns  of  elections  for  all  civil  officers  elected  by 
the  people,  who  are  to  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor,  and 
also  for  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  shall  be  made  to 
the  Secretary  of  State. 

Sec.  7.  No  person  who  may  hereafter  be  a  collector  or 
holder  of  public  moneys  shall  have  a  seat  in  either  house  of  the 
General  Assembly,  or  be  eligible  to  any  office  of  trust  or  profit 
under  this  State  until  he  shall  have  accounted  for  and  paid  into 
the  treasury  all  sums  of  w^hich  he  may  be  accountable. 

Sec.  9.  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the 
term  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  be  appointed  to  any 
civil  office  of  profit  under  this  State  which  shall  have  been 
created,    or    the    emolument    of    which     shall    have    been   in- 


360  APPENTIIX. 

creased,  during  such  term,  except  such  office  as  may  be  filled  by 
election  by  the  people. 

Sec.  10.  All  civil  officers  of  the  State  at  large  shall  reside 
within  the  State,  and  all  district  or  county  officers  within  their 
respective  districts  or  counties,  and  shall  keep  their  respective 
offices  at  such  places  therein  as  may  be  required  by  law. 

Sec.  II.  Every  person  shall  be  disqualified  from  serving  as 
Governor,  Senator,  Representative,  or  from  holding  any  other 
office  of  honor  or  profit  in  this  State  for  the  term  for  which  he 
shall  have  been  elected,  who  shall  have  been  convicted  of  having 
L^fiven  or  offered  any  bribe  to  procure  his  election. 

Sec.  12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
regulate  by  law  in  what  cases  and  what  deductions  from  the  sal- 
aries of  public  officers  should  be  made  for  an)  neglect  of  duty 
in  their  official  capacity. 

Sec.  13.  No  member  of  Congress,  or  person  holding  or  ex- 
ercising any  office  of  profit  under  the  United  States,  or  any  for- 
eign power,  shall  be  eligible  as  a  member  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  this  State,  or  hold  or  exercise  any  office  of  profit  under 
the  State. 

Sec.  14.  The  General  Assembly  shall  by  law  provide  for 
the  appointment  or  election,  and  removal  from  office,  of  all 
officers,  civil  and  military  in  this  State,  not  provided  for  in  this 
constituton. 

Sec.  15.  The  power  of  impeachment  shall  be  vested  in  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

Sec.  16.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate; 
when  sitting  for  that  purpose  the  Senators  shall  be  upon  oath  or 
affirmation  :  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  con- 
currence of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

Sec.  17.  The  Governor  and  all  civil  officers  shall  be  liable 
to  impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office,  but  judgment  in 
such  cases  shall  not  extend  further  than  to  removal  from  office 
and  disqualification  to  hold  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or  profit 
under  this  State;  but  the  parties  nevertheless  shall  be  liable  to 
indictment,  trial  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 

ARTICLE  Vll. 

Mii.niA. 

Seciiu-n  I.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
provide  for  the  organization  of  the  militia  of  the  State,  and  of- 
ficers therein  shall  be  appointed  under  such  rules  as  the  General 
.\ssembly  may  direct. 

Sec.  2.   Xo  commission  shall  l>e  vacated  except   by  a  sen- 


AT'PENDIX.  361 

tence  of  a  court  martial  or   upon   resignation  accepted  by   the 
Governor. 

ARTICLE  MIL 

TAXATION  AND  REVENUE. 

Section  i.  The  General  Assembly  shall  devise  and  adopt  a 
system  of  revenue,  having  regard  to  an  equal  and  uniform  mode 
of  taxation  throughout  the  State. 

Sec.  2.  No  other  or  greater  amount  of  tax  or  revenue  shall 
at  any  time  be  levied  than  may  be  required  for  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  the  Government. 

Sec.  3.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury  but  in 
consequence  of  an  appropriation  by  law,  and  a  regular  statement 
of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money  shall  be 
published  and  promulgated  annually  with  the  laws  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

Sec.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  author- 
ize the  several  counties  and  incorporated  towns  in  this  State  to 
impose  taxes  for  county  and  corporation  purposes,  respectively, 
and  all  property  shall  be  taxed  upon  the  principles  established  in 
regard  to  State  taxation. 

Sec.  5.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  author- 
ize the  levying  of  a  capitation  taxation  tax  not  exceeding  one  dol- 
lar upon  each  voter  in  any  one  year,  the  same  to  be  used  exclu- 
sively for  school  purposes. 

Sec.  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  appoint  for 
each  county  in  this  State  one  Assessor  and  Collector  of  Taxes, 
whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law,  who  shall  hold  his  of- 
fice for  two  years  from  the  time  of  his  appointment,  but  may  be 
removed  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  Constitution  for  the  re- 
moval of  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

CENSUS  AND  APPORTIONMENT. 

Section  1.  The  (General  Assembly  shall,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five,  and  every  tenth  year 
thereafter,  cause  an  enumeration  to  be  made  of  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  State;  and  thev  shall  then  proceed  to  apportion  the 
Representatives  and  Senators  among  the  different  counties,  ac- 
cording to  such  enumerntion,  on  the  ratio  of  population  as  near 
as  may  be.  and  which  rates  shall  not  be  changed  until  a  new 
census  shall  have  been  taken. 


362  APPENDIX. 

Skc.  2.  \Vhen  any  Senatorial  or  Representative  district 
shall  be  composed  of  two  or  more  counties,  the  counties  of 
which  such  district  consists  shall  not  be  entirely  separated  by  any 
county  belonging  to  another  district,  and  no  county  shall  be  di- 
vided in  forming  districts. 

Sec.  3.  No  county  now  organized  shall  be  divided  into  new 
counties,  so  as  to  reduce  the  inhabitants  of  either  below  the  rates- 
of  representation. 

Sec.  4.  The  several  counties  of  this  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  the  following  representatives,  viz:  Escambia,  two;  Santa 
Rosa,  one;  Walton,  one;  Washington  and  Holmes,  one;  Jack- 
son, four ;  Calhoun  and  Franklin,  one ;  ( iadsden  and  Liberty^ 
four;  Wakulla,  one;  Leon,  seven  ;  Jefferson,  five;  Madison, 
four;  Taylor  and  Lafayette,  one;  Hamilton,  one ;  Suwanee, 
one;  Columbia,  two;  Baker  and  Bradford,  one ;  Nassau,  one ; 
Duval  two;  Clay,  St.  Johns  and  Putnam,  two;  Alachua  and 
Levy,  four;  Marion,  five;  Hernando  and  Sumter,  one;  Or- 
ange, Volusia,  Brevard  and  Dade,  one ;  Hillsborough,  Polk  and 
Manatee,  one;  Monroe,  one.  The  several  counties  of  this 
State  shall  be  entided  to  the  following  Senators  :  Escambia,  one:. 
Santa  Rosa,  Walton  and  Holmes,  one;  Jackson,  Washington, 
and  Calhoun,  two ;  Gadsden,  Liberty  and  Franklin,  two;  Leon 
and  Wakulla,  four;  Jefferson  and  Taylor,  three;  Madison  and 
Hamilton,  three;  Suwanee  and  Columbia,  one;  Baker  and  Nas- 
sau, one;  Duval,  one;  Clay,  St.  Johns  and  Putnam,  one;  Brad- 
ford, Alachua  and  Lafayette,  two;  Marion  and  Levy,  two;  Her- 
nando, Sumter,  Orange,  Volusia,  Brevard  and  Dade,  one;  Hills- 
borough, Polk,  Manatee  and  Monroe,  one. 

ARTICLE  X. 

EJ^UCAIION. 

Section  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  theCieneral  Assembly  tc 
provide  a  liberal  system  of  free  schools,  to  1)e  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  school  commission  of  the  State. 

Sec.  2.  The  proceeds  of  all  public  lands  for  the  use  of 
schools  and  seminaries  of  learnings  shall  be  and  remain  a  per- 
petual fund,  the  interest  of  which,  together  with  all  moneys  ac- 
crued from  any  other  source  applicable  to  the  same  object,  shalL 
be  inviolably  appropriated  to  the  use  of  schools  and  seminarie^^ 
of  learning,  respectively,  and  to  no  other  purpose. 

Sec.  3.  The  Ceneral  Assembly  shall  take  such  measures  a^ 
may  be  necessary  to  preserve  from  waste  or  damage  all  public 
lands  so  granted  and  a))proj)riated  for  the  purpose  of  education. 

Sec  4.   The  Cieneral  Assembly  of  this  State  shall  forever  be 


APPENDIX.  ^^3 

prohibited  from  making  any   distinctions  in   schools,  seminaries 
and  colleges  based  upon  caste,  color  or  birth. 

Sec. "5.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  estab- 
lish an  agricultural  college  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

PUBLIC    DOMAIN. 

Section  i.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
provide  for  the  prevention  of  waste  and  damage  of  the  public 
lands  that  have  been  or  may  hereafter  be  ceded  to  the  State  of 
Florida,  and  it  may  pass  laws  for  the  sale  of  any  part  or  portion 
thereof,  and  in  such  cases  provide  for  the  safety,  security  and 
appropriation  of  the  proceeds. 

Sec.  2.  A  liberal  'system  of  internal  improvements,  being 
essential  to  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  State,  shall 
be  encouraged  by  the  Government  of  this  State ;  and  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  as- 
certain by  law  proper  objects  for  the  extension  of  internal  im- 
i.rovements,  in  relation  to  roads,  canals  and  navigable  streams, 
and  to  provide  for  a  suitable  application  of  such  funds  as  may 
have  been  or  may  hereafter  be  appropriated  by  said  General  As- 
sembly for  such  improvements. 

Sec.  3.  The  General  Assembly  may  create  internal  improve- 
ment districts,  composed  of  one  or  more  counties,  and  may  grant 
a  right  to  the  citizens  thereofto  tax  themselves  for  their  improve- 
ments. Said  internal  improvement  districts,  when  created, 
shall  have  the  right  to  select  Commissioners,  shall  have 
power  to  appoint  officers,  fix  their  pay,  regulate  all  matters 
relative  to  the  improvements  of  their  districts,  pro^-ided  such  im- 
provements will  not  conflict  with  the  general  laws  of  the  State. 

Sec.  4.  The  General  Assembly  may  grant  aid  to  said  dis- 
tricts out  of  the  funds  arising  from  the  swamp  and  overflowed 
lands  granted  to  the  State  by  the  United  States  for  that  purpose, 
or  otherwise. 

Sec.  5.  The  General  Assembly  may  at  any  time  cede  to  the 
United  States  Government  a  sufficient  parcel  or  fraction  of  land 
for  the  purpose  of  coast  defence  and  other  national  purposes. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

boundaries. 

Section  i.  The  boundaries  of  the  State  of  Florida  shall  be 
as  follows  :  Commencing  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Perdito;  from 
thence  up  the  middle  of  said  river  to  where  it  intersects  the  south 


364 


APPENDIX. 


boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Alabama  and  the  thirty-first  degree 
of  north  latitude  ;  then  due  east  to  the  Chattahoochie  river;  then 
down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  its  confluence  with  the  Flint 
river;  from  thence  direct  to  the  head  of  the  Saint  Mary's  river; 
thence  down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  the  Atlantic  ocean  ; 
thence  southwardly  to  the  Gulf  of  Florida  and  Gulf  of  Mexico: 
thence  northwardly  and  westwardly,  including  all  islands  within 
five  leagues  of  this,  to  the  beginning. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

CORPORA  11 OXS. 

Section  i.  Corporations  may  be  formed  under  general  laws 
for  municipal,  religious,  literary,  'scientific,  benevolent,  military 
and  other  associations,  not  commercial,  industrial  or  financial, 
but  no  special  act  incorporating  any  such  association  shall  be 
passed.  All  general  laws  and  special  acts  passed  pursuant  to  this 
section  may  be  altered,  amended  or  repealed. 

Sec.  2.  Dues  from  corporations  shall  be  secured  by  such 
individual  liabilities  of  the  corporators  or  other  means  as  may  be 
prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  3.  Each  stockholder  in  any  corporation  shall  be  liable 
to  the  amount  of  the  stock  held  or  owned  by  him. 

Sec.  4.  The  property  of  corporations,  now  existing  or  here-. 
after  created,  shall  forever  be  subject  to  taxation  the  same  as 
property  of  individuals,  except  corporations  for  educational  and 
charitable  purposes. 

Sec.  5.  No  right  of  way  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  use  of 
any  corporation  until  full  compensation  therefor  be  first  made  in 
money  or  secured  by  a  deposit  of  money  to  the  owner,  irrespect- 
ive of  any  benefit  from  any  nnprovement  proposed  by  such  cor- 
poration, which  compensation  shall  be  ascertained*by  a  jury  of 
twelve  men  in  a  court  of  record,  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  6.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  have  power  to  es- 
tablish or  incorporate  any  bank,  banking  company  or  moneyed 
institution  for  the  purpose  of  issuing  bills  of  credit,  or  bills  pay- 
able to  order  or  bearer,  except  under  the  conditions  prescribed 
in  this  Constitution. 

Sec.  7.  No  bank  shall  be  established  otherwise  than  under 
a  general  banking  law,  as  pro\'ided  in  the  first  section  of  this 
article. 

Sec.  S.  The  (General  Assembly  may  enact  a  general  banking 
law,  which  law  shall  provide  for  the  registry  and  countersigning, 
by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  of  all  paper  credit  designed  to  be 
created  as  money  :  and  for  ample  collateral  security  convertible 


APPENDIX. 


365 


into  specie,  or  the  redemption  of  the  same  in  gold  or  silver,  shall 
be  required,  and  such  collateral  security  shall  be  under  the  con- 
trol of  such  officer  or  officers  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  9.  All  bills  or  notes  issued  as  money  shall  be  at  all 
times  redeemable  in  gold  or  silver,  and  no  law  shall  be  passed 
sanctioning  directly  or  indirectly  the  suspension,  by  any  bank  or 
banking  company,  of  specie  payments. 

Sec.  10.  Holders  of  bank  notes  shall  be  entitled,  in  case  of 
insolvency,  to  preference  of  payment  over  all  other  creditors. 

Sec.  II.  Every  bank  or  banking  company  shall  be  required 
to  cease  all  banking  operations  within  twenty  years  from  the  time 
of  its  organization,  and  promptly  thereafter  to  close  its  business. 

Sec.  12.  No  bank  shall  receive,  directly  or  indirectly,  a 
greater  rate  of  interest  than  shall  be  allowed  by  law  to  individ- 
uals lending  money. 

Sec.  13.  The  State  shall  not  be  a  stockholder  in  any  bank, 
nor  shall  the  credit  of  the  State  ever  be  given  or  lent  to  any  bank- 
ing company,  association  or  corporation,  except  for  the  purpose 
of  expediting  the  construction  of  railroads  or  works  of  internal 
improvement  within  this  State,  and  the  credit  of  this  State  shall 
in  no  case  be  given  or  lent  without  the  approval  of  both  houses 
of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  14.  All  corporations  shall  have  the  right  to  sue,  and 
shall  be  subject  to  be  sued,  in  all  courts  in  like  cases  as  natural 
persons. 

Sec.  15.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
provide  for  the  organization  of  cities  and  incorporated  towns, 
and  to  restrict  their  power  of  taxation,  assessments  and  contract- 
ing of  debts. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

INDUSIRIAL    RESOURCES. 

Section  i.  A  bureau  of  industrial  resources  shall  be  estab- 
slihed,  to  be  under  the  management  of  the  Commissioner  of  Emi- 
gration, who  shall  be  elected  at  the  first  general  election,  and 
shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  four  years. 

Sec.  2.  The  Commissioner  of  Industrial  Resources  shall  col- 
ect  and  condense  statistical  information  concerning  the  produc-1 
ive  industries  of  the  State;  and  make  or  cause  to  be  made,  at 
careful,  accurate,  and  thorough  report  upon  the  agriculture  and 
geology  of  the  State,  and  annually  report  such  additions  as  the 
progress  of  scientific  development  and  extended  explorations 
may  require.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  disseminate  among 
the  people  of  the  State  such  knowledge  as  he  may  deem    impor- 


366  APPENDIX. 

tant  concerning  improved  machinery  and  production,  and  for 
the  promotion  of  their  agricultural,  manufacturing,  and  mining 
interests;  and  shall  send  out  to  the  people  of  the  United  States 
and  foreign  countries  such  reports  concerning  the  industrial  re- 
sources of  Florida  as  may  best  make  known  the  advantages 
offered  by  the  wState  to  emigrants;  and  shall  perform  such  other 
dutiesas  the  General  Assembly  may  require. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  the 
first  session  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  to  pass  such 
laws  and  regulations  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  government 
and  protection  of  this  bureau,  and  also  to  fix  and  provide  for  the 
compensation  of  the  Commissioner. 

Sec.  4.  This  bureau  shall  be  located,  and  the  Commissioner 
shall  reside  at  the  capital  of  the  State;  and  he  shall  annually 
make  a  written  or  printed  report  to  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
to  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  at  each  session. 

Sec.  5.  Incase  of  the  death,  removal,  or  resignation  of  the 
Commissioner,  the  Governor,  with  the  approval  of  the  Senate, 
shall  have  power  to  appoint  a  Commissioner  for  the  unexpired 
term. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

ELIGIHILITV  AND  TENURE  OF  OFFICE. 

Section  i.  All  ofticers  of  this  State,  civil  and  military,  be- 
fore they  enter  upon  the  execution  of  the  duties  of  their  respec- 
tive offices,  shall  take  and  subscribe  the  following  oath:  I  do 
solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  have  never  voluntarily  borne 
arms  against  the  United  States  since  I  have  been  a  citizen  there- 
of; that  I  have  voluntarily  given  no  aid,  countenance,  or  en- 
couragement, to  persons  engaged  in  armed  hostility  thereto;  that 
I  have  neither  sought,  nor  accepted,  nor  attempted  to  exercise 
any  authority,  or  pretended  authority,  in  hostility  to  the  United 
States;  that  I  have  not  yielded  voluntary  support  to  any  pretend- 
ed government,  authority,  power,  or  constitution  within  the 
United  States,  hostile  or  inimical  thereto;  and  I  do  further  swear 
(or  affirm)  that  I  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability  and  knowledge, 
support  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  State  of  Florida,  against  all  enemies,  foreign  and  domestic; 
that  I  will  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  the  same;  that  I  take 
this  obligation  freely,  without  any  mental  reservation  or  purpose 
of  evasion;  and  that  I  will  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office  on  which  I  am  about  to  enter:  so  help  me  God.  Any  per- 
son who  shall  falsely  take  this  oath  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
perjury,  and  on  conviction  thereof,  in  addition  to   the  penalties 


APPENDIX.  367 

which  may  by  law  be  prescribed  for  that  offence,  shall  be  de- 
prived of  his  office,  and  rendered  forever  incapable  of  holding 
any  office  in  this  State;  but  the  General  Assembly  may,  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  Governor,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of 
<each  house,  remove  the  disability  imposed  in  this  article  for  aid- 
ing or  countenancing  the  rebellion. 

AR  I ICLE  XVI. 

AMENDMENTS  AND  REVISION. 

Section  i.  No  part  of  this  Constitution  shall  be  altered 
■except  by  a  convention  duly  elected. 

Sec.  2.  No  convention  of  the  people  shall  be  called  unless 
by  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  of  each 
house  of  the  General  Assembly,  made  known  by  the  passing  of 
a  bill,  which  shall  be  read  three  times  on  three  several  days  in 
each  house. 

Sec.  3.  Whenever  a  convention  shall  be  called  proclama- 
tion of  an  election  for  delegates  shall  be  made  by  the  Governor 
at  least  thirty  days  before  the  day  of  election.  Every  county 
and  Senatorial  district  shall  be  entitled  to  as  many  delegates  as 
it  has  Representatives  in  the  General  Assembly.  The  same 
qualifications  shall  be  required  in  delegates  and  electors  that  are 
required  in  members  of  the  ( reneral  Assembly,  and  voters  for 
the  same,  respectively,  and  the  election  of  delegates  to  a  con- 
vention, and  the  returns  of  such  election,  shall  be  held  and 
made  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law  for  regulating  elections 
for  members  of  the  General  Assembly;  but  the  convention  shall 
judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

SEAT  OF    GOVERNMENT. 

Section  i.  The  seat  of  government  shall  be,  and  remain 
permanent,  at  the  city  of  Tallahassee,  until  otherwise  provided 
for  by  the  action  of  a  convention  of  the  people  of  the  State. 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 

general  powers. 

Section  i.  The  jurors  of  this  State  shall  be  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  possessed  of  such  qualifications  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.     :^_^_^ 


-68  APPENDIX. 

Sec.  2.  Treason  against  the  State  shall  consist  only  in  levy- 
ing war  against  it  or  the  United  States,  or  in  adhering  to  its 
enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  con- 
victed of  treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the 
same  overt  act,  or  his  confession  in  open  court. 

Sec.  3.  Divorces  from  the  bonds  of  matrimony  shall  not  be 
allowed  bufby  the  judgment  of  a  court,  as  shall  be  prescribed 
bv  law. 

Sec.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  declare  by  law  what 
parts  of  the  common  law  and  what  parts  of  the  civil  law,  not 
inconsistent  with  this  Constitution,  shall  be  in  force  in  this  State. 

Sec.  5.  The  oath  of  office  directed  to  be  taken  under  this 
Constitution  may  be  administered  by  any  Judge  or  Justice  of  the 
Peace  in  the  State  of  Florida,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law. 

Sec.  6.  In  all  actions  of  law,  civil  and  criminal,  every  citi- 
zen of  this  State  shall  be  equally  competent  to  give  evidence, 
under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the 
General  Assembly. 

Sec.  7.  No  person  shall  be  capable  of  holding  or  bemg 
elected  to  any  post  of  honor,  profit,  trust,  or  emolument,  civil 
or  military,  legislative,  executive  or  judicial,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  this  State,  who  shall  hereafter  fight  a  duel,  or  send  or 
accept  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel,  the  probable  issue  of  which 
may  be  the  death  of  the  challenger  or  challenged,  or  shall  be  a 
second  to  either  party,  or  who  shall  in  any  manner  aid  or  assist 
in  such  a  duel,  or  shall  be  knowingly  the  bearer  of  such  a  chal- 
lenge, or  acceptance,  whether  the  same  occur  or  be  committed 
in  or  out  of  the  State;  but  the  legal  disability  shall  not  occur 
until  after  the  trial  and  conviction  according  to  due  form  of  law. 

ARTICLE  XIX. 

SCHEDULE  AND  ORDIN  ANC  E. 

Section  i.  All  laws  of  the  State,  passed  and  in  operation  be- 
fore the  assembling  of  this  Convention,  not  repugnant  to  the 
Constitution  of  this  State  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  acts  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  the  ordi- 
nances of  this  Convention,  shall  be  valid  and  remain  of  full 
force  and  effect  until  amended,  changed  or  repealed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  All  writs,  actions,  prosecutions,  judgments  and 
decrees  of  the  courts  of  this  State,  all  executions  and  sales  made 
thereunder,  and  all  acts,  orders  and  proceedings  of  the  J  udges 
of  Probate,  and  of  executors,  administrators,  guardians  and 
trustees,  provided  they  were  in  conformity  to  the  laws  passed 
and  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State  and  the  United  States,  the 


APPENDIX.  369 

acts  of  Congress,  and  not  repugnant  to  the  ordinances  of  this 
Convention,  shall  be  as  valid  as  if  made  under  the  usual  and 
ordinary  legislation  of  the  country. 

Sec.  2.  All  fines,  penalties,  forfeitures,  obligations  and  es- 
cheats heretofore  accruing  to  the  State  of  Florida,  and  not  made 
unlawful  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  acts  of  Congress,  and  the  ordi- 
nances of  this  Convention,  shall  continue  to  accrue  to  the  use  of 
the  State. 

Sec.  3.  All  recognizances  heretofore  taken  shall  remain 
valid,  and  all  bonds  executed  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  either  before  or  since  the  first  day  of  January,  1861, 
or  to  any  other  officer  of  the  State  in  his  official  capacity,  shall 
be  of  full  force  and  virtue  for  the  uses  therein  respectively  ex- 
pressed, and  may  be  sued  for  and  recovered  accordingly ;  and 
all  criminal  prosecutions  and  penal  actions  which  have  arisen 
may  be  prosecuted  to  judgment  and  execution  in  the  name  of  the 
State,  not  repugnant  to  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  the  acts  of  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  ordinances  of  this  Convention. 

Done  in  open  convention.  In  witness,  the  undersigned,  the 
President  of  said  Convention  and  delegates  present,  representing 
the  people  of  Florida,  do  hereby  sign  our  names  this  the  eighth 
day  of  February,  Anno  Domini  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight, 
and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  ninety-third ; 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Convention  doth  countersign  the  same. 

D.   RICHARDS,  President. 
A.  G.  Bass,  Liberty  Billings, 

William  Bradwell,  Wm.  R.  Cone, 

Andrew  Shuler,  Jesse  H.  Goss, 

Green  Davidson,  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs, 

Fred  Hill,  Major  Johnson, 

John  N.  Krimminger,         R,   Meacham, 
Joseph  E.  Gates,  Anthony  Mills, 

Charles  H.  Pearce,  Alexander  Cnandler, 

John  Wyatt,  Eldridge  L.   Ware, 

Josiah  T.  Walls,  O.  B.  Armstrong, 

Wm.  U.  Saunders. 


[General  Orders  No.  110  ] 

Headquarters  Third  Military  District, 

(Georgia,  Alabama  and  Florida,; 

Atlanta^  Georgia,  December  28,  186'j: 
Whereas,  by  General  Orders  No.  74,  from  these  headquar- 
ters, dated   Octobei  5,  1867,  ^^  election  was  ordered  to  be  held 


370  APl'EXDIX. 

in  the  State  of  Florida,  on  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
days  of  November,  1867,  at  which  election,  in  pursuance  of  an 
act  of  Congress  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  more 
efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States,"  and  the  acts  supple- 
mentary thereto,  the  registered  voters  of  said  State  might  vote 
'•for  a  convention"  or  "against  a  convention,"  and  for  delegates 
to  constitute  the  convention  in  case  a  majority  of  the  votes  given 
on  that  (juestion  should  be  for  a  convention,  and  in  case  a  ma- 
jority of  all  the  registered  voters  should  have  voted  on  the  (jues- 
tion  of  a  convention; 

And,  whereas,  at  an  election  held  in  pursuance  of  said  orders, 
and  in  conformity  to  said  acts,  there  were  polled  on  the  question 
of  a  convention  votes  to  the  number  of  fourteen  thousand  five 
hundred  and  three  (14,503),  being  more  than  one-half  of  twenty- 
' seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  (27,172),  the  whole 
number  of  registered  voters  in  said  State;  and  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  votes  polled  on  the  question  of  a  convention,  fourteen 
thousand  three  hundred  (14,300),  being  a  majority  of  the  same, 
were  cast  for  a  convention. 

And,  whereas,  at  said  elec'ion  the  following  named  persons 
were  elected  as  delegates  to  said  Convention  from  the  respective 
election  districts  in  which  they  were  so  chosen : 

From  the  first  election  district — George  W.  ^^'alker,  George 
1.  Alden,  Lyman  W.  Rowley. 

From  the  second  election  district — John  L.  Campbell. 

From  the  third  election  district — W.  J.  Purman,  L.  C.  Ar- 
mistead,  E.  Fortune,  H.  Bryan. 

From  the  fourth  election  district — D.  Richards,  W.  U.  Saun- 
ders, Frederick  Hill. 

F>om  the  fiith  election  district — J.  W.  Childs. 

From  the  sixth  election  district — T.  W.  Osborne,  Joseph  E. 
Gates,  C.  H.  Pearce,  John  Wyatt,  Green  Davidsoli,  O.  B.  Arm- 
strong. 

From  the  seventh  election  district— John  W.  Powell,  A.  G. 
Bass,  Robert  Meacham,  Antony  Mills. 

From  the  eighth  election  district — Roland  T.  Rombauer, 
Major  Johnson,  William  R.  Cone. 

From  the  ninth  election  district — Thomas  Urcjuhart,  An- 
drew  Shuler. 

From  the  tenth  election  district — J.  N.  Krimminger. 

From  the  eleventh  election  district — Horatio  Jenkins,  jr., 
Wm.  K.  Cessna,  Josiah  T.  Walls. 

From  the  twelfth  election  district— S.  B.  Conover,  Auburn 
Erwin. 

From  the  thirteenth  election  district — B.  M.  McRae. 


APPENDIX.  371 

From  the  fourteenth  election  district — L.  Billings,  N.  C. 
Dennett,  William  Bradwell,  J-  C.  Gibbs. 

From  the  fifteenth  election  district — J.  H.  Goss,  A.  Chand- 
ler, W.  Rogers,  I).  House. 

From  the  sixteenth  election  district — Samuel  J.  Pearce. 

From  the  seventeenth  election  district — C.   R.  Mobley. 

From  the  eighteenth  election  district — David  Mizell. 

From  the  Nineteenth  election  district — Eldridge  L.  Ware. 

It  is  ordered  that  the  persons  above  named  do  meet  in  con- 
vention at  Tallahassee,  Florida,  at  the  Capitol,  on  Monday,  the 
twentieth  (20th)  day  of  January,  icS68,  and  proceed  to  frame  a 
constitution  and  civil  government  for  the  State  of  Florida,  ac- 
cording to  the  provisions  of  the  acts  above  referred  ro,  and  that 
when  the  same  shall  have  been  so  framed  the  said  constitution 
be  submitted  for  ratification  to  the  registered  voters  of  said  State, 
as  further  required  by  law. 

JOHN  POPE, 
Brevet  Major- General  Coninianding, 
Official: 

CHARLES   F.   LARRABEK, 
Brevet  Captain  United  States  Arni\\ 
Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-  General^  District  of  Florida. 
Tallahassee,  Fla.,  February  15,  1868. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  Constitutional  Convention  for  the  State  of 
Florida  adjourned  on  last  Saturday  to  meet  again  to-day,  in  the 
hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  at  10  o'clock  a.  m. 

In  the  meantime  I  learn  that  parties  broke  into  the  said  hall 
at  midnight  and  formed  there  an  organization  assuming  to  be  a 
Constitutional  Convention,  and  now  refuse  to  surrender  posses- 
sion of  said  hall. 

As  the  said  pretended  convention,  now  in  possession  of  the 
hall,  is  an  illegal  and  revolutionary  organization,  tending  to  im- 
pede, if  not  defeat,  reconstruction  in  this  State,  and  that  the 
legally  organized  body  may  assemble  without  a  collision  and, 
perhaps,  serious  consequences,  I  most  respectfully  ask  you,  as 
the  highest  civil  executive  officer  in  our  State,  to  cause  to  be 
arrested  and  removed  from  the  capital  Horatio  Jenkins,  the  j^re- 
tended  President  of  the  said  pretended  convention;  Sherman 
Conant,  the  pretended  Secretary;  M.  Martin,  the  pretended 
Sergeant- at-arms,  and  all  other  persons  who  now  prevent,  or 
threaten  to  prevent,  the  officers  of  the  regularly  organized  Con- 
stitutional Convention  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
official  duties  in  said  hall. 

You  are  also  requested  to  cause  to  be  arrested  at  once  O.  B. 
Hart,    T.  W.  Osborne,   C.   R.   Mobley,   S.    B.   Conover,   J.  W. 


372 


APPENDIX. 


Purman,  and  C.  M.  Hamilton  as  leading  conspirators  in  dis- 
turbing the  public  peace  and  inciting  to  riot,  and  for  illegally 
attempting  to  obstruct  and  defeat  reconstruction,  and  remove 
them  from  said  hall  and  capital. 

I  am  yours  most  respectfully, 

D.  RICHARDS, 
President  of  Constitutio7ial  Conver?tio?i,  Florida. 
Hon.  David  S.  Walker. 


Executive  Department,  | 

Tallahassee,  Fla.,  February  15,  1868.  ) 

Sir  :    Your  communication  of  this  instant  is  received. 

I  cannot  comply  with  your  request.  The  gentlemen  now 
occupying  the  Representative  hall  claim  that  they  are  the 
majority  of  the  convention,  and  are  entitled  to  seats  upon  the 
.^oor.  I  learn  from  the  gentleman  now  occupying  the  Presi- 
dent's chair  that  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  convention 
have  elected  him  President,  and  that  every  member  of  the  con- 
vention have  elected  him  President,  and  that  every  member  of 
the  convention  is  at  liberty  to  go  into  the  hall  and  occupy  his 
seat  if  he  desires  to  do  so.  It  is  clearly  not  for  me  to  determine 
whether  yourself  or  General  Jenkins  is  the  rightful  President  of 
the  convention. 

For  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  peace  I  shall  feel  it  my 
duty  to  use  all  the  power  I  can  command  to  prevent  a  collision 
by  the  attempt  of  either  party  forcibly  to  eject  the  other  from 
the  hall. 

Earnestly  hojjing  that  all  the  members  of  the  convention 
will  meet  together  and  harmonize,  I  am  vours  most  respectfully, 

D.  S.  WALKER,  Governor,  etc. 
Hon.  1).  Richards. 


Tallahassee,  Fla.,  February  15,  1868. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  enclosed  is  a  copy  of  the  request  made  on 
Governor  David  S.  Walker,  the  chief  executive  civil  officer  in 
our  State,  and  he  declines  to  take  any  action  thereon.  You, 
therefore,  as  commander  of  the  military  at  this  place,  are  respect- 
fully requested  to  ])romptly  arrest  and  remove  from  the  hall  and 
the  capital  all  parties  who  offer  or  encourage  any  opposition  to 
the  legally  constituted  officers  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  Florida  entering  ui)on  the  discharge  of  their  duties  in  the  hall 


APPENDIX. 


373 


of  the  capital.  And  you  are  especially  requested  to  arrest  and 
remove  from  the  capital  those  persons  named  in  communication 
to  Governor  Walker. 

Respectfully  yours, 

D.  RICHARDS, 
President  of  Coiisiitiitiojial  Convention^  Florida. 
CoLONEi,  F.  F.  Flint, 

Comnianding  Post  at  Tallahassee. 


Headquarters  Post  ok  Tallahassee,  Fla.,  ] 
February  15,  1868.  j 

Sir  :    I  have  the  honor  to  acl^nowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
note  of  this  date  enclosing  copy  of  a  communication  from  you  to 
Governor  Walker,  also  of  this  date,  and  in  reply  have  to  inform 
you  that  I  must  decline  to  comply  with  your  request. 
I  am,  sir,  verv  respectfully,  vour  obedient  servant, 

F.  F.  FLINT, 
Lieutenant-  Colonel  yth  United  States  Infantry,  Conunanding. 
Mr.  D.  Richards,  Tallahassee,  Fla. 


Tallahassee.  Fla..  February  17,  1868. 
Dear  Sir  :  As  President  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  Florida  I  feel  it  necessary  to  endeavor  to  enter  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  my  duties  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment  after  the 
forcible  opposition  is  withdrawn  from  the  hall  in  which  we  were 
to  meet.  As  you  indicated  to  our  committee  to-day  that  the 
organization  now  in  possession  of  the  hall  "  had  no  legal  status, 
nor  could  get  one,"  I  can  see  no  reason  why  the  regularly 
organized  convention  should  not  be  permitted  to  assemble  to- 
morrow morning  at  the  regular  hour  of  meeting.  Would  be 
very  glad  to  know  your  Avishes  on  the  subject. 
Most  respectfully  vours, 

D.  RICHARDS. 

President  of  Convention. 
Major-Gkneral  George  G.  Meade, 

Coninianding  Third  Military  District. 


The  undersigned,  being  a  majority  of  the  delegates  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  the  State  of  Florida,  hereby  assent 
and  agree  to  the  following  propositions: 

1.  Richards  to  resign. 

2.  Jenkins  to  resign. 

Both  to  hand  their  written  resignations  to  Secretary  S. 
Conant. 


374 


APPENDIX. 


3.  S.  Conant,  Secretary,   to  call   convention  to  order,. and 
perform  the  duties  of  temporary  chairman. 

4.  Election  of  President. 

Billings,  Saunders,  Pierce,  and  Richards  to  take  their  seats 
and  vote  on  the  question. 

5.  The  whole  convention  to  abide  by  action  of  majority  on 
all  and  everv  question. 

HORATIO  JENKINS,  Jr.,  President. 
C.  R.  MOBLEY, 
T.  W.  OSBORNE, 
O.  B.  HART, 

Committee. 


Tallahassee,  Florida, 

February  18,  1886. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  enclose  you  herewith  a  proposition  received 
this  morning  from  that  portion  of  the  convention  organized  un- 
der the  presidency  of  Mr.  Jenkins.  I  have  already  advised  you 
that  I  am  satisfied,  from  the  information  .obtained  here,  that  it  is 
entirely  impracticable  for  you  to  obtain  the  quorum,  twenty- 
four,  necessary  to  give  validity  to  the  acts  of  the  body  over 
which  you  preside,  and  which  up  to  February  i,  the  date  of  the 
withdrawal  of  the  members,  I  consider  as  the  regular  organiza- 
tion. 

The  withdrawal  of  these  members,  and  the  accession  to  thei, 
numbers  sufficient  to  give  them  twenty-five  elected  membersr 
and  their  organization  and  refusal  to  return  to  your  body  or 
harmonize,  except  upon  the  terms  here  indicated,  satisfy  me 
that  either  the  convention  must  be  broken  up,  or  must  be  re- 
organized so  as  to  permit  the  majority  to  have  its  rightful  influ- 
ence. Under  these  circumstancies,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  appeal 
to  your  desire  not  to  obstruct  the  discharge  of  the  duties  as- 
signed to  the  convention,  and  deeming  the  enclosed  proposi- 
tion a  reasonable  compromise,  to  urge  you  to  conform  to  it,  with 
a  view  of  harmonizing  the  unfortunate  difficulties  that  have 
arisen,  and  thus  restore  peace  and  tranquility  to  the  whole  body. 
Very  respectfullv,  your  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  G.   MEADE, 
Maj.  Gen.   U.   S.  Army,  Commanding  Third  Military  District. 

D.  Richards, 

President  Constitutional  Con^rntion. 


^4lI*PENDIX  b. 


LAST  CONSTITUTIOM  FRAMED  AFTER  A  NEW  CON- 
VENTION WAS  ORGANIZED. 


Constitution  of  the  State  of  Florida^  fnDiied  by  a  co)ivcntion  of  t/i£ 
people  assembled  at  Tallaha'^sce,  on  the  20th  day  of 
January  1S6S. 

PREAMBLE. 

We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  Plorida,  grateful  to  Almighty 
God  for  our  freedom,  in  order  to  secure  its  blessings  and  form  a 
more  perfect  government,  in^iring  domestic  tranquility,  main- 
taining public  order,  perpetuating  liberty,  and  guaranteeing 
equal  civil  and  political  rights  to  all,  do  establish  this  Constitu- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  I. 

DECLARATION  OF    RIGHTS. 

Section  i.  All  men  are  by  nature  free  and  equal,  and  have 
certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  those  of  enjoying  and 
defending  life  and  liberty,  acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting 
property,  and  pursuing  and  obtaining  safety  and  happiness. 

Sec.  2.  All  political  power  is  inherent  in  the  people.  Gov- 
ernment is  instituted  for  the  protection,  security,  and  benefit  of 
its  citizens,  and  they  have  the  right  to  alter  or  amend  the  same 
whenever  the  public  good  may  require  it;  but  the  paramount  al- 
legiance of  every  citizen  is  due  to  the  Federal  Government,  and 
no  power  exists  with  the  people  of  this  State  to  dissolve  its  con- 
nection therewith. 

Sec.  3.  This  State  shall  ever  remain  a  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican Union,  the  people  thereof  a  part  of  the  American  nation, 
and  any  attempt  from  whatever  source,  or  upon  whatever  pre- 
tence, to  dissolve  said  Union,  or  to  sever  said  nation,  shall  be 
resisted  with  the  whole  power  of  the  State. 

Sec.  4.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  secured  to  all  and 
remain  inviolate  forever;  Ijut  in  all  civil  cases  a  jury  trial  may  be 
waived  by  the  parties  in  the  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  5.  The  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  religious  pro- 
fession and  worship  shall   forever  be   allowed   in  this  State,  and 


376 


APPENDIX. 


no  person  shall  be  rendered  nicompetent  as  a  witness  on  account 
of  his  religious  opinions;  but  the  liberty  of  conscience  hereby 
secured  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  justify  licentiousness  or 
practices  subversive  of  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State. 

Sec.  6.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  case  of  invasion  or  rebellion,  the 
public  safety  may  rec^uire  its  suspension. 

Sec.  7.  E.xcessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive 
fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  or  unusual  punishment  be  inflicted,  nor 
shall  witnessess  be  unreasonably  detained. 

Sf.c.  8.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties, 
unless  for  capital  offences,  when  the  proof  is  evident  the  pre- 
sum.ption  great. 

Skc.  9.  No  i)erson  shall  be  tried  for  a  capital  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  and  in  cases  of 
the  militia  when  in  active  service  in  time  of  war,  or  whic^  the 
.State  may  keep,  with  the  consent  of  Congress,  in  time  of  peac^, 
and  in  cases  of  petit  larceny,  made  under  the  regulation  of  the 
Legislature,  unless  on  presentment  and  indictment  by  a  grand 
jury;  and  in  anv  trial  by  any  court  the  party  accused  shall  be 
allowed  to  appear  and  defend  in  person, 'and  with  counsel,  as  in 
civil  actions.  No  person  shall  be  subject  to  be  twice  put  in 
jeopardy  for  the  same  offence,  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any 
criminal  case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of 
lif^,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall 
private  propertv  be  taken  without  just  compensation. 

Sec.  10.  Every  citizen  may  fully  speak  and  write  his  senti- 
ments on  all  subjects,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that 
right,  and  no  law  shall  be  passed  to  restrain  or  abridge  the  liberty 
of  speech  or  the  press.  In  all  criminal  prosecutions  and  civil 
actions  for  libel,  the  truth  may  be  given  in  evidence  to  the  jury, 
and  if  it  shall  appear  that  the  matter  charged  as  libellous  is  true, 
but  was  published  from  good  motives,  the  party  shall  be  acquitted 
or  exonerated. 

Sec.  II.  The  people  shall  have  the  right  to  assemble  to- 
gether to  consult  for  the  common  good,  to  instruct  their  repre- 
sentatives, and  to  petition  the  Legislature  for  redress  of  grievance. 

Sec.  12.  Alflaws  of  a  general  nature  shall  have  a  uniform 
oi^eration.  ,   . 

Skc.  13.  The  military  shall  be  subordinate  to  the  civil 
l^ower.  . 

Sec.  15.  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in 
any  house,  except  with  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of 
war,  except  in  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.    15.    Representatives  shall  he  apportioned  according  to 
population,  as  well  as  may  be,  but   no  county  shall  have  more 


APPENDIX.  377 

than  four  representatives  and  less  than  one  representative  in  the 
assembly. 

Sec.  r6.  No  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt  except  in 
case  of  fraud. 

Sec.  17.  No  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  law,  impairing 
the  obligations  of  contracts,  shall  ever  be  passed. 

Sec.  18.  Foreigners  who  are,  or  who  may  hereafter  become, 
bona  fide  residents  of  the  State,  shall  enjoy  the  same  rights  in 
respect  to  possession,  enjoyment,  and  inheritance  of  property  as 
native-born  citizens. 

Sec.  19.  Neither  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude,  unle.->> 
for  the  punishment  of  crime,  shall  ever  be  tolerated  in  this 
State. 

Sec.  20.  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  either  per- 
son, houses,  papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  seizures 
and  searches,  shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  issued  but 
in  probable  cause;  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  particularly 
describing  the  place  or  places  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or 
persons,  and  thing  or  things  to  be  seized. 

Sec.  21.  Treason  against  the  State  shall  consist  only  in  levy- 
ing war  against  it,  adhering  to  its  enemies,  or  giving  them  aid  and 
comfort ;  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason  unless  on 
the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  overt  act  or  confession  in 
open  court.  '  This  enunciation  of  rights  shall  not  be  construed 
to  impair  or  deny  others  retained  by  the  people. 

Sec.  22.  The  people  shall  have  the  right  to  bear  arms  in 
defence  of  themselves  and  of  the  lawful  authority  of  the  State. 

Sec.  23.  No  preference  can  be  given  by  law  tu  any  church, 
sect  or  mode  of  worship. 

.ARTICLE  II. 

BOUNDARIES 

The  boundaries  of  the  State  of  Florida  shall  be  as  follows  . 
Commencing  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Perdido  ;  from  thence 
up  the  middle  of  said  river  to  where  it  intersects  the  south 
boundarv  line  of  the  State  of  Alabama  on  the  thirty-first  degree 
of  north'latitude;  thence  due  east  to  the  Chattahoochee  river; 
thence  down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  its  confluence  with  the 
FHnt  river:  from  thence  straight  to  the  head  of  the  St.  Mary's 
river ;  thence  down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean;  thence  southeastwardly  along  the  coa>t  to  the  edge  of 
the  Gulf  stream  ;  thence  siuthwestwardly  along  the  edge  of  the 
Gulf  stream  and  Florida  reefs  to  and  including  the  Tortugas 
islands  ;  thence  northwestwardly  to  a  i)oint  five  leagues  from  the 


378  APPENDIX. 

mainland:  thence  northwestwardly  ;rom  the  shore,  including 
all  islands,  to  a  point  five  leagues  due  south  from  the  middle  of 
the  mouth  of  Perdido  river;  thence  to  the  j)lace  of  beginning. 

ARTICLE  Hi. 

SEAr  OF  C.OVKRNMENT. 

The  seat  of  government  shall  be  and  remain  permanent  at 
the  city  of  Tallahassee,  in  the  county  of  Leon,  until  otherwi.se 
located  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  Legislature,  and  by  a  majority 
vote  of  the  people. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

DISTRll'.UriON  OF  POWER. 

The  powers  of  the  government  of  the  State  of  Florida 
shall  be  divided  into  three  departments,  to  wit:  Legislative, 
Executive  and  Judicial.  No  person  properly  belonging  to  one, 
of  the  departments  shall  exercise  any  functions  appertaining  to 
cither  of  the  others,  except  in  those  cases  expressly  provided  for 
by  this  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  V. 

LEOISLATIVE    DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  Legislative  authority  of  this  State  shall  be 
vested  in  a  Senate  and  Assembly,  which  shall  be  designated 
'•  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Florida,"  and  the  sessions  thereof 
shall  be  held  at  the  seat  of  government  of  the  State. 

Sec.  2.  The  sessions  of  the  Legislature  shall  be  annual ;  the 
first  session  on' the  second  Monday  of  June,  A.  D,  1886,  and 
thereafter  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  Janu- 
uary,  commencing  in  the  year  A.  D.  1869.  The  Governor 
may,  in  the  i/iterii/i,  convene  the  Legislature  in  extra  session  by 
his  proclamation. 

Sec.  3  The  members  of  the  Assembly  shall  be  chosen 
']>ienially;  those  of  the  first  Legislature  on  the  first  Monday, 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday  of  May  A.  D.  1868,  and  thereafter  on 
the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November  commenc- 
ing with  the  year  A.  IX  1870. 

Sec.  4.  Senators  shall  be  chosen  for  the  term  of  four  years, 
at  the  same  time  and  place  as  members  of  the  Assembly  :  Provided^ 
That  the  Senators  elected  at  the  first  election  from  the  Senatorial 
districts  shall  vacate  their  seats  at  the  expiration   of  two  years. 


APPENDIX.  379 

and  thereafter  all  Senators  shall  be  elected  for  the  term  of  four 
years,  so  that  one-halt  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  elected 
bienially . 

Sec.  5.  Senators  and  members  of  the  Assembly  shall  be 
duly  qualified  electors  in  the  respective  counties  and  districts 
which  they  represent. 

Sec.  6.  Each  house  shall  judge  of  the  qualifications,  elec- 
tions and  returns  ot  its  own  members ;  choose  its  own  officers, 
except  the  President  of  the  Senate,  determine  the  rules  of  its 
proceedings,  and  may  punish  its  members  for  disorderly  conduct 
and  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  pres- 
sent,  expel  a  member. 

Sec.  7.  Either  house  during  the  session,  may  punish  by  mi- 
prisonment  any  person,  not  a  member,  who  shall  have  been 
guilty  of  disorderly  or  contemptuous  conduct  in  its  presence ; 
but  such  imprisonment  shall  not  extend  beyond  final  adjourn- 
ment of  the  session. 

Sec.  8.  A  majority  of  each  house  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
to  do  business  ;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 
^ay  and  may  compel  the  presence  of  absent  members  in  such 
manner  and  under  such  penalties  as  eacn  house  may  prescribe. 

Sec.  9.  Any  person  who  shall  be  convicted  of  embezzle- 
ment or  defalcation  of  the  funds  of  this  State,  or  of  having 
given  or  offered  a  bribe  to  secure  his  election  or  appointment 
to  office,  or  of  having  received  a  bribe  to  aid  in  the  procure- 
ment of  office  for  any  other  person,  shall  be  disqualified  from 
holding  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust  in  the  State ;  and  the 
Legislature  shall,  as  soon  as  praticable,  provide  by  law  for  the 
punishment  of  each  embezzlement,  defalcation,  or  bribery  as  a 
felony. 

Sec.  10.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  own  pro- 
ceedings, which  shall  be  published,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the 
members  of  either  house  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of 
any  three  members  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Sec.  II.  The  doors  of  each  house  shall  be  kept  open  dur- 
ing its  session,  except  the  Senate  while  sitting  in  executive 
session  ;  and  neither  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  ad- 
journ for  more  than  three  days,  or  to  any  other  town  than  that 
in  which  they  may  be  holding  their  session. 

Sec.  12.  Any  bill  may  orginate  in  either  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature and  alter  being  passed  in  one  house  may  be  amended  in 
the  other. 

Sec.  13.  The  enacting  clause  of  every  law  shall  be  as  fol- 
lows :  '*  The  people  of  the  State  of  Florida,  represented  in  Sen- 
ate and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows  :" 

Sec    24.   Each  law  enacted  in  the  Legislature  shall  embrace 


380  APPENDIX. 

but  one  subject,  anc  matters  properl}-  connected  therewith, 
which  subject  shall  be  l>riefly  expressed  in  the  title;  and  no  law 
shall  be  amended  or  revised  by  reference  to  its  title  only,  but  in 
such  case,  the  act  as  revised,  or  section  as  amended,  shall  be  re- 
enacted  and  published  at  length. 

Sec.  15.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  by  sections  in  three  sev- 
eral ways  in  each  house,  unless,  in  case  of  emergency,  two-thirds 
of  the  house  where  such  bill  may  be  pending  shall  deem  it  ex- 
pedient to  dispense  with  this  rule ;  but  the  reading  of  a  bill  by 
sections  on  its  fmal  passage,  shall  in  no  case  be  dispensed  with  ; 
and  the  vote  on  the  final  passage  of  every  bill,  or  joint  resolution, 
shall  be  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  to  be  entered  in  the  journal  of 
each  house,  and  a  majority  of  the  members  present  in  each 
house  shall  be  necessary  to  pass  every  bill  or  joint  resolution, 
and  all  bills  or  joint  resolutions  so  passed  shall  be  signed  by  the 
presiding  officers  of  the  respective  houses;  and  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Senate  and  Clerk  of  the  Assembly. 

Sec.  16.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  except 
bv  appropriation  made  by  law,  and  accurate  statements  of  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  public  money  shall  be  attached 
to  and  published  with  the  laws  passed  at  every  regular  session  ot 
the  Legislature. 

Sec.  17.  The  Legislature  shall  not  pass  special  or  local  laws 
in  any  of  the  following  enumerated  cases,  that  is  to  say  :  regula- 
ting the  jurisdiction  and  duties  ot  any  class  of  officers,  or  for  the 
inmishment  of  crime  or  misdemeanor  ;  regulating  the  practices 
of  courts  of  justice  ;  providing  for  changing  venue  of  civil  and 
criminal  cases ;  granting  divorces;  changing  the  names  of  per- 
sons; vacating  roads,  town  plats,  streets,  alleys  and  public 
squares  ;  summoning  and  empanelling  grand  and  petit  juries,  and 
I)roviding  for  their  compensation  ;  regulating  <ounty,  township, 
and  municipal  business ;  regulating  the  election  of  county,  town- 
ship and  municipal  officers  ;  for  the  assessment  and.  collection  of 
taxes  for  State,  county  and  municipal  purposes  ;  providing  for 
opening  and  conducting  elections  lor  State,  county  and  municipal 
officers,  and  designating  the  places  of  voting  ;  providing  for  the 
sale  of  real  estate  belonging  to  minors  or  other  persons  laboring 
under  legal  disabilities  ;  regulating  the  fees  of  officers. 

Sec.  18.  In  all  cases  enumerated  in  the  preceding  section, 
and  in  all  other  cases  where  general  law  can  be  made  applicable, 
all  laws  shall  be  general  and  of  uniform  operation  throughout  the 
State. 

Sec.  19.  Provision  may  be  made  by  general  law  for  bring- 
ing suit  against  the  State  as  to  all  liabilities  now  existing  or  here- 
after originating. 

Sec.  20.    Lotteries  are  hereby  prohibited  in  this  State. 


APPENDIX.  381 

Sec.  21.  The  Legislature  shall  establish  a  uniform  system  of 
county,  township  and  municipal  government. 

Sec.  22.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  by  general  law  for 
incorporating  such  municipal,  educational,  agricultural,  mechan- 
ical, mining  and  other  useful  companies  or  associations  as  may 
be  deemed  necessary. 

Sec.  23.  Laws  shall  be  passed  regulating  elections,  and  pro- 
hibiting, under  adequate  penalties,  all  undue  influence,  thereon 
from  power,  bribery,  tumult,  or  other  improper  practice. 

Bec.  24.  Kegular  sessions  of  the  Legislature  may  extend  to 
sixty  days,  but  any  special  session  convened  by  the  Governor 
shall  not  exceed  twenty  days. 

Sec.  25.  All  property,  both  real  and  personal,  of  the  wife, 
owned  by  he.:  before  marriage,  or  acquired  afterward  by  gift, 
devise,  descent  or  purchase  shall  be  her  separate  property,  and 
not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband. 

Sec.  26.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  the  election  by 
the  people,  or  appointment  by  the  Governor,  of  all  State,  county 
or  municipal  officers  not  otherwise  provided  for  by  this  Constitu- 
tion, and  fix  by  law  their  duties  and  compensation. 

Sec.  27.  Every  bill  which  may  have  passed  the  Legislature 
shall,  before  becoming  a  law,  be  presented  to  the  Governor ;  if 
he  approves  it  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not,  he  shall  return  it  with 
his  objections  to  the  house  in  which  it  originated,  which  house 
shall  cause  such  objections  to  be  entered  upon  its  journals,  and 
proceed  to  reconsider  it ;  if  after  such  reconsideration  it  shall  pass 
both  houses  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  members  present,  which 
vote  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house,  it  shall  be- 
come a  law.  if  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  within  five  days 
(Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed 
it.  If  the  Legislature  by  its  final  adjournment  prevent  such  ac- 
tion, such  bill  shall  be  a  law,  unless  the  Governor,  within  ten 
days  next  after  the  adjournment,  shall  file  such  bill  with  his  ob- 
jections thereto  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  shall 
lay  the  same  before  the  Legislature  at  its  next  session,  and  if  the 
same  shall  receive  two-thirds  of  the  votes  present  it  shall  become 
a  law. 

Sec.  28.  The  Assembly  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  im- 
peachment, but  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  present 
shall  be  required  to  impeach  any  officer ;  and  all  impeachments 
shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate  when  sitting  for  that  purpose.  The 
Senators  shall  be  upon  oath  or  affirmation,  and  no  person  shall 
be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Sena- 
tors present. 

The  Chief  Justice  shall  preside  at  all  trials  by  impeachment, 


3^- 


APPENDIX. 


except  in  the  trial  of  the  Chief  Justice,  when  the  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor shall  preside. 

The  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  members  of  the  Cabi- 
net, justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  Judges  of  the  Circuit 
Court,  shall  be  liable  to  impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in 
office ;  but  judgment  in  such  cases  shall  extend  only  to  removal 
from  office  and  discjualification  to  hold  any  office  of  honor,  trust, 
or  profit  under  the  State ;  but  the  party  convicted  or  acquitted 
shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial  and  punishment 
according  to  law.  All  other  officers  who  shall  have  been  ap- 
pointed to  office  by  the  Governor,  and  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  Senate,  maybe  removed  from  office  upon  the  recommend- 
ation of  the  Governor  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  but  they  shall 
nevertheless  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial  and  punishment  accord- 
ing to  law  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office ;  all  other  civil  officers 
shall  be  tried  for  misdemeanors  in  office  in  such  manner  as  the 
Legislature  may  provide. 

Sec.  29.  The  Legislature  shall  elect  United  States  Senators 
in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  by  this  Constitution. 

Sec.  30.  Laws  making  aj)propriation  for  the  salaries  of  pub- 
lic officers  and  other  current  expenses  of  the  State  shall  contain 
provisions  on  no  other  subject. 

ARTICLE  VL 

EXECUTIVE     DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  supreme  executive  power  of  the  State  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Chief  Magistrate,  who  shall  be  styled  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida. 

Sec.  2.  The  (governor  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  elect- 
ors at  the  same  time  and  places  of  voting  for  the  members  of  the 
Legislature,  and  shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years  from  the  time 
of  his  installation  :  Provided,  That  the  term  of  the  first  Governor 
elected  under  this  Constitution  shall  expire  at  the  opening  of  the 
regular  session  of  the  Legislature  of  A.  D.  1873,  and  until  his 
successor  shall  be  qualified.  He  shall  take  the  oath  of  office 
prescribed  for  all  State  officers. 

Sec.  3.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Governor 
who  is  not  a  qualified  elector,  and  who  has  not  been  nine  years 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  three  years  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  next  preceding  the  time  of  his  election. 

Sec.  4.  The  Governor  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
military  forces  of  the  State,  except  when  they  shall  be  called  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States. 


APPENDIX.  383 

Sec.  5.  He  shall  transact  all  executive  business  with  the 
officers  of  the  Government,  civil  and  military,  and  may  require 
information  in  writing  from  the  officers  of  the  administrative  de- 
partment upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respect- 
ive offices. 

Sec.  6.    He  shall  see  that  the  laws  are   faithfully  executed. 

Sec.  7.  When  any  office,  from  any  cause,  shall  become  va- 
cant, and  no  mode  is  provided  by  this  Constitution  or  by  the 
laws  of  the  State  for  filling  such  vacancy,  the  Governor  shall 
have  the  power  to  fill  such  vacancy  by  granting  a  commission 
which  shall  expire  at  the  next  election. 

Sec.  8.  The  Governor  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions, 
convene  the  Legislature  by  proclamation,  and  shall  state  to 
both  houses,  when  organized,  the  purpose  for  which  they  have 
been  convened,  and  the  Legislature  then  shall  transact  no  legis- 
lative business  except  that  lor  which  they  are  specially  convened, 
or  such  other  legislative  business  as  the  Governor  may  call  to  the 
attention  of  the  Legislature  while  in  session,  except  by  the  unan- 
imous consent  of  both  houses. 

Sec.  9.  He  shall  communicate  by  message  to  the  Legisla- 
ture at  each  regular  session  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  rec- 
ommend such  measures  as  he  may  deem  expedient. 

Sec.  10.  In  case  of  a  disagreement  between  the  two  houses 
Avith  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  the  Governor  shall  have 
power  to  adjourn  the  Legislature  to  such  a  time  as  he  may  think 
proper,  provided  it  is  not  beyond  the  time  fixed  for  the  meeting 
of  the  next  Legislature. 

Sec.  II.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  suspend  the 
collection  of  fines  and  forfeitures,  and  grant  reprieves  for  a 
period  not  exceeding  sixty  days,  dating  from  the  time  of  convic- 
tion, for  all  offences  except  in  cases  of  impeachment.  Upon 
conviction  for  treason,  he  shall  have  power  to  suspend  the  execu- 
tion of  sentence  until  the  case  shall  be  reported  to  the  Legisla- 
ture at  its  next  session,  when  the  Legislature  shall  either  pardon, 
direct  the  execution  of  the  sentence,  or  grant  a  further  reprieve; 
and  if  the  Legislature  shall  fail  or  refuse  to  make  final  disposi- 
tion of  such  case,  the  sentence  shall  be  enforced  at  such  time 
and  place  as  the  Governor  may  by  his  order  direct.  The  Gov- 
ernor shall  communicate  to  the  Legislature  at  the  beginning  of 
every  session  every  case  of  fine  or  forfeiture  remitted  or  reprieved, 
pardon  or  commutation  granted,  stating  the  name  of  the  convict, 
the  crime  for  which  he  was  convicted,  the  sentence,  its  date, 
and  the  date  of  its  remission,  commutation,  pardon,  or  reprieve. 

Sec.  12.  The  Governor,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
Attorney-General,  or  a  major  part  of  them,  of  whom  the  Gov- 
ernor shall  be  one,  may.   upon  such    conditions  and  with    such 


384 


APPENDIX. 


limitations  and  restrictions  as  they  may  deem  proper,  remit  fines 
and  forfeitures,  commute  punishments,  and  grant  pardon  after 
conviction,  in  all  cases  except  treason  and  impeachments,  sub- 
ject to  such  regulations  as  may  be  provided  by  law  relative  to  the 
manner  of  applying  for  pardons. 

Sfx.  I T,.  The  grants  and  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name 
and  under  the  authority  of  the  State  of  Florida,  sealed  by  the 
<^reat  seal  of  the  State,  signed  by  the  Governor,  and  counter- 
sife'ned  bv  the  Secretary  of  State. 

Sec!  14.  A  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  be  elected  at  the 
same  time  and  place,  and  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Governor, 
whose  term  of  office  and  eligibility  shall  also  be  the  same.  He 
shall  be  President  of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  only  a  casting 
vote  therein.  If  during  a  vacancy  of  the  office  of  Governor  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  shall  be  impeached,  displaced,  resign,  die, 
or  become  incapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  his  olTtice,  or  be 
absent  from  the  State,  the  president  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate 
shall  act  as  Governor  until  the  office  be  filled   or  the   disability 

cease. 

Sec.  15.  In  the  case  of  the  impeachment  of  the  Governor, 
or  his  removal  from  office,  death,  mability  to  discharge  his  offi- 
cial duties,  or  resignation,  the  power  and  duties  of  the  office 
shall  devolve  upon  the  Lieutenant-Governor  for  the  residue  of 
the  term,  or  until  the  disability  shall  cease;  but  the  Governor 
shall  not,  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislature,  be  out  of  the 
State  in  time  of  war. 

Sec.  r6.  The  Governor  may  at  any  time  require  the  opinion 
of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  as  to  the  interpretation  of  any 
portion  of  this  Constitution,  or  upon  any  point  of  law,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  shall  render  such  opinion  in  writing. 

Sec.  17.  The  Governor  shall  be  assisted  by  a  cabinet  of 
administrative  officers,  consisting  of  a  Secretary  of  State,  Attor- 
ney General,  Comptroller,  Treasurer,  Surveyor  General,^  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  Adjutant-Cieneral,  and  Commis- 
sioner of  Immigration.  Such  officers  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
(iovernor,  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  shall  hold  their 
offices  the  same  time  as  the  Governor,  or  until  their  successors 
shall  be  qualified. 

Sec.  18.  The  Governor  shall,  by  and  with  the  consent  of 
the  Senate,  appoint  all  commissioned  officers  of  the  State  militia. 

Sec.  19.  The  Governor  shall  appoint,  by  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  in  each  county,  an  Assessor  of  taxes  and 
Collector  of  Revenue,  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law, 
and  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years,  and  be  subject  to 
removal  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Governor  and  consent 
of  the  Senate.     The  Governor   shall  appoint  in  each   county    a 


APPENDIX.  385 

County  Treasurer,  County  Surveyor,  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  and  five  County  Commissioners,  each  of  whom  shall 
hold  his  office  for  two  years,  the  duties  of  which  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  Such  officers  shall  be  subject  to  removal  by  the 
Governor,  when  in  his  judgment  the  public  welfare  will  be  ad- 
vanced thereby:  Provided,  No  officer  shall  be  removed  excei)t 
for  wilful  neglect  of  duty,  or  a  violation  of  the  criminal  laws  of 
the  State,  or  for  incompetency. 

Sec.  20.  The  Governor  and  Cabinet  shall  constitute  a 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  State  Institutions,  which  board  shall 
have  supervision  of  all  matters  connected  therewith,  in  such 
manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  21.  The  Governor  shall  have  power,  in  cases  of  insur- 
rection or  rebellion,  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  within 
the  State. 

ARTICLE   VII. 

JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  judicial  power  of  the  State  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Supreme  Court,  Circuit  Courts,  County  Courts,  and  Justices 
of  the  Peace. 

Sec.  2.  The  style  of  all  process  shall  be,  '^The  State  of 
Florida,"  and  all  prosecutions  shall  be  conducted  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  same. 

Sec.  3.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  a  Chief  Justice 
and  two  Associate  Justices,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  life, 
or  during  good  behavior.  They  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

Sec.  4.  The  majority  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  all  business.  The 
Supreme  Court  shall  hold  three  terms  each  year,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  room  at  the  seat  of  government.  Such  terms  shall  com- 
mence on  the  Second  Tuesday  of  October,  January,  and  April. 
respectively. 

Sec.  5.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellatejurisdiction 
in  all  cases  in  equity,  also  in  all  cases  of  law  in  which  is  involved 
the  tide  to  or  right  of  possession  of  real  estate  or  the  legality  of 
any  tax,  impost,  assessment,  toll,  or  municipal  fine,  or  in  which 
the  demand  or  the  value  of  the  property  in  controversy  exceeds 
300  dollars,  also  in  all  other  civil  cases  not  included  in  the  gen- 
eral subdivisions  of  law  and  equity;  also  in  all  questions  of  law 
alone,  in  all  criminal  cases  in  which  the  offences  charged  amount 
to  felony.     The  court  shall  have  power  to    issue  writs    of   man- 

24 


386 


PPKNI.IX. 


damns,  certiorari,  prohibition,  quo  v:arranto,  habeas  corpus,  and 
also  all  writs  necessary  or  proper  to  the  complete  exercise  of  its 
appellate  jurisdiction. 

Each  of  the  Justices  shall  have  the  power  to  issue  writs  of 
habeas  corpus  iod^x\y  \)d.x\.  oi  l)\t  State,  upon  petition  by  or  on 
behalf  of  any  person  held  in  actual  custody,  and  may  make  such 
writs  returnable  before  himself  or  the  Supreme  Court,  or  before 
any  Circuit  Court  in  the  State,  or  before  any  judge  of  said  courts. 

Sfx.  6.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  appoint  a  Clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  who  shall  have  his  office  at  the  Capitol,  and 
diall  be  Librarian  of  the  of  the  Supreme  Court  Horary;  he  shall 
hold  his  office  until  his  successor  is  appointed  and  qualified. 

Sec.  7.  There  shall  be  seven  Circuit  Judges  appointed  by 
the  Governor  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  who  shall  hold  their 
office  for  eight  years.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  seven 
judicial  districts,  the  limits  of  which  are  defined  in  this  Consti- 
tution, and  one  judge  shall  be  assigned  to  each  circuit.  Such 
judge  shall  hold  two  terms  of  his  court  in  each  county  within 
his  circuit,  each  year,  at  such  times  and  places  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  The  Chief  Justice  may,  in  his  discretion,  order 
a  temporary  exchange  of  circuits  by  the  respective  judges,  or  any 
judge  to  hold  one  or  more  terras  in  any  other  circuit  than  that  to 
which  he  is  ass'gned.  The  Judge  shall  reside  in  the  circuit  to 
whtch  he  is  assigned. 

Sec.  8.  The  Circuit  Courts  in  their  several  Judicial  Courts 
shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  of  equity;  also  in  all 
cases  at  law  which  involve  the  title  or  the  right  of  posession  to, 
or  the  i)osession  of,  or  the  boundaries  of  real  property ;  of  the 
legality  of  any  tax,  impost,  or  assessment,  toll,  or  municipal^ 
fine,  and  in  all  other  cases  in  which  the  demand  or  the  value  of 
property  in  controversy  exceeds  three  hundred  dollars,  and  of 
the  action  of  forcible  entry  and  unlawful  detainer,  and  also  in 
all  criminal  cases  amounting  to  felony.  I'hey  shall  have  final 
appellate  jurisdiction  in  all  civil  cases  arising  in  the  County  Court 
in  which  the  amount  of  controversy  is  one  hundred  dollars  and 
upwards  and  in  all  cases  of  misdemeanor.  The  Circuit  Courts 
and  the  Judges  thereof  shall  have  power  to  issue  writs  of  man- 
damus, injunction,  quo  warranto,  certiorari,  and  all  other  writs 
proper  and  necessary  to  the  complete  exercise  of  their  jurisdic- 
tion, and  also  shall  have  power  to  issue  writs  of  habeas  corpus 
on  petition  by  or  on  behalf  of  any  person  held  in  actual  custody 
in  their  respective  circuits. 

Sec.  9.  There  shall  be  a  County  Court  organized  in  each 
county.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  a  County  Judge  for  each 
county,  who  shall  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate,   and  such  Judge 


APPENDIX.  387 

shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years  from  the  date   of  his   commis- 
sion, or  until  his  successor  is  appointed  and  qualified. 

Sec.  10.  The  County  Court  shall  be  a  court  of  oyer  and  ter- 
miner. 

Sec.  II.  The  County  Court  shall  have  jurisdiction  of  ail 
misdemeanors  and  all  civil  cases  where  the  amount  in  contro- 
versey  does  not  exceed  three  hundred  dollars;  and  its  jurisdic- 
tion shall  be  final  in  all  civil  cases  where  the  amount  in  contro- 
versey  does  not  exceed  one  hundred  dollars ;  but  in  no  case 
shall  the  County  Court  have  jurisdiction  when  the  tide  or  bound- 
aries of  real  estate  is  in  controversey,  or  where  the  jurisdiction 
will  conflict  with  that  of  the  several  Courts  of  Record;  but  they 
may  have  coextensive  jurisdiction  with  the  Circuit  Courts  in 
cases  of  forcible  entry  and  unlawful  detention  of  real  estate,  sub- 
ject to  appeal  to  the  Circuit  Court.  The  County  Court  shall  have 
full  surrogate  or  probate  powers,  but  subject  to  appeal.  Provis- 
ion shall  be  made  by  law  for  all  other  powers,  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities of  the  County  Courts  and  Judges.  There  shall  be  a  reg- 
ular trial  term  of  the  County  Courts  six  times  in  each  year,  at 
such  times  and  places  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec  12.  The  grand  and  petit  jurors  shall  be  taken  from 
the  registered  votes  of  the  respective  counties. 

Sec.  13.  In  all  trials,  civil  and  criminal,  in  the  Circuit  and 
County  Courts,  the  evidence  shall  be  reduced  to  writing  by  the 
clerk  of  the  court  or  his  deputy,  under  control  of  the  court ;  and 
every  witness  after  his  examination  shall  have  done,  shall  be  a: 
liberty  to  correct  the  evidence  he  has  given,  and  afterwards 
shall  sign  the  same ;  such  evidence  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of 
the- clerk,  with  the  papers  in  the  case. 

Sec.  14.  All  pleas  shall  be  sworn  to  either  by  the  parties  or 
their  attorneys. 

Sec.  15.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  as  many  Justices  of 
the  Peace  as  he  may  deem  necessary.  Justices  of  the  Peace 
shall  have  criminal  jurisdiction  and  civil  jurisdiction  not  to  ex- 
ceed fifty  dollars,  but  this  shall  not  extend  to  the  trial  of  any 
person  for  misdemeanor  or  crime.  The  duties  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  shall  be  fixed  by  law.  Justices  of  the  Peace  shall  hold 
their  offices  during  good  behavior,  subject  to  removals  by  the 
Covernor  at  his  own  discretion. 

Sec.  16.  The  Legislature  may  establish  courts  for  municipal 
purposes  only  m  incorporated  towns  and  cities.  All  laws  for 
the  organization  or  government  of  Municipal  Courts  shall  be 
general  in  their  provisions,  and  be  equally  applicable  to  the 
Municipal  Courts  of  all  incorporated  towns  and  cities. 

Sec.  17.  Any  civil  cause  may  be  tried  before  a  practicing 
attorney  as  referee  upon  the  application  of  the  parties,    and  an 


388  APPENGIX. 

order  from  the  court  in  whose  jurisdiction  the  case  may  be  author- 
izing such  trial  and  appointing  such  referee.  Such  referee  shall 
keep  a  complete  record  of  the  case,  including  the  evidence 
taken,  and  such  record  shall  be  filed  with  the  papers  in  the  case 
in  the  office  of  the  clerk,  subject  to  an  appeal  in  the  manner  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

Sec.  18.  No  other  courts  than  those  herein  specified  shall  be 
organized  in  this  State. 

Sec.  19.  The  Governor  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the 
Senate  shall  appoint  a  State  attorney  in  each  judicial  circuit, 
whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  1  aw.  He  shall  hold  his 
office  for  four  years  from  the  date  of  his  commission,  and  until 
his  successor  shall  be  appointed  and  qualified.  The  Governor, 
:>y  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint 
a  Sheriff  and  Blerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  who  shall  also  be  Clerk 
of  the  County  Court  and  Board  of  County  Commissioners,  Re- 
corder, and  ex-ofifico  Auditor  of  the  county,  each  of  whom  shall 
hold  his  office  for  four  years.  Their  duties  shall  be  prescribed 
"by  law. 

Sec.  20.  A  constable  shall  be  elected  by  the  registered 
voters  in  each  county  for  every  two  hundred  (200)  registered 
voters ;  but  each  county  shall  be  entitled  to  at  least  two  con- 
stables, and  no  county  shall  have  more  than  twelve  constables. 
They  shall  perform  such  duties  under  such  instructions  as  shall 
be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  21.  Attorneys  at  law,  who  have  been  admitted  to 
practice  sn  any  court  of  record  in  any  State  in  the  Union,  or  to 
any  United  States  court,  shall  be  admitted  to  practice  in  any 
court  of  this  State  on  producing  evidence  of  having  been  so  ad- 
mitted. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

administrative  department. 

Section  i.  There  shall  be  a  cabinet  of  administrative 
officers',  consistingof  a  Secretary  of  State,  Attorney  General, 
Comptroller,  Treasurer,  Surveyor  General,  and  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  Adjutant  General,  and  Commissioner  of 
Immigration,  who  shall  assist  the  Governor  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties. 

Sec  2.  The  Secretary  of  State  shall  keep  the  records  of 
official  acts  of  the  Legislature  and  executive  departments  of 
the  governments,  and  shall,  when  required,  lay  the  same,  and  all 
matters  relative  thereto,  before  either  branch  of  the  Legislature, 
and  shall  be  the  custodian  of  the  great  seal  of  the  State. 


APPENDIX.  389 

Sec.  3.  The  Attorney  General  shall  be  the  legal  adviser  of 
the  Governor  and  of  each  of  the  Cabinet  officers,  and  shall  per- 
form such  other  legal  duties  as  the  Governor  may  direct,  or  as 
may  be  provided  by  law.      He  shall  be  reporter  for  the  Supreme 

Court. 

Sec.  4.  I'he  Treasurer  shall  receive  and  keep  all  tund>, 
bonds,  or  other'securities,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided 
by  law,  and  shall  disburse  no  funds,  bonds  or  other  securities, 
except  upon  the  order  of  the  Comptroller,  countersigned  by  the 
Governor  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  5.  The  duties  of  the  Comptroller  shall  be  prescribed 
bv  law.  ,    . 

Sec.  6.  The  Surveyor  General  shall  have  the  administra- 
tive supervision  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  public  lands, 
under  such  regulations  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  7.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  shall  have 
the  administrative  supervision  oi  all  matters  pertaining  to  public 
instruction ;  the  supervision  of  buildings  devoted  to  educational 
purposes,  and  the  libraries  belonging  to  the  university  and  the 
common  schools.  He  shall  organize  an  historical  bureau  for  the 
purposes  of  accumulating  such  matter  and  information  as  may 
be  necessary  for  compihng  the  history  of  the  State.  He  shall 
also  establish  a  cabinet  of  minerals  and  other  natural  productions. 

Sec.  8.  The  Adjutant  General  shall,  under  the  orders  of  the 
Governor,  have  the  administrative  supervision  of  the  military  de- 
partment, and  the  supervision  of  the  State  prison,  and  of  the 
quarantine  of  the  coast,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed 
by  law. 

Sec.  9.  The  Commissioner  of  Immigration  shall  organize  a 
Bureau  of  Immigration  for  the  purposes  of  furnishing  informa- 
tion and  for  the  encouragement  of  immigration.  The  office  of 
Commissioner  of  Immigration  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  fifteen 
vears  from  the  ratification  of  this  constitution,  but  the  Legisla- 
ture shall  have  power  to  continue  it  by  law. 

Sec.  10.  Each  officer  of  the  cabinet  shall  make  a  full  report 
of  his  official  acts,  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  his  office, 
and  of  the  requirements  of  the  same,  to  the  Governor,  at  the 
beginning  of  each  regular  session  of  the  Legislature,  or  when- 
ever the  Governor  shall  require  it.  Such  reports  shall  be  laid 
before  the  Legislature  by  the  Governor  at  the  beginning  of  each 
regular  session  thereof.  Either  house  of  the  Legislature  may  at 
any  time  call  upon  any  cabmet  officer  for  information  recpiired 
by  it. 


39P  APPENDIX. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

EDUCATION. 

Seciion  I.  It  is  the  paramount  duty  of  the  State  to  make 
ample  provision  for  the  education  of  all  the  children  residing 
-.vithin  its  borders,  without  distinction  or  preference. 

Skc.  2.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  a  uniform  system  of 
common  schools  and  a  university,  and  shall  provide  for  the 
liberal  maintenance  of  the  same.  Instruction  in  them  shall  be 
free. 

Sec.  3.  There  shall  be  a  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, whose  term  of  office  shall  be  four  years,  and  until  the 
appointment  and  qualification  of  his  successor.  He  shall  have 
general  supervision  of  the  educational  interests  of  the  State. 
His  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  4.  The  common  school  fund,  the  interest  of  which 
shall  be  exclusively  applied  to  the  support  and  maintenance  of 
common  schools  and  purchase  of  suitable  libraries  and  apparatus 
therefor,  shall  be  derived  from  the  following  sources : 

The  proceeds  of  all  lands  that  have  been  or  may  hereafter 
be  granted  to  the  State  by  the  United  States  for  educational 
purposes.  Donations  by  individuals  for  educational  purposes. 
Appropriations  by  the  State.  The  proceeds  of  lands  or  other 
property  which  may  accrue  to  the  State  by  escheat  to  forfeiture. 
The  proceeds  of  all  property  granted  to  the  State,  when  the 
purpose  of  such  grant  shall  not  be  specified.  All  moneys  which 
may  be  paid  as  an  exemption  from  military  duty.  All  fines 
ct)llected  under  the  penal  laws  of  this  State.  Such  portion  of 
iht  pel  capita  tax  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law  for  educational 
purposes.  Twenty-five  per  centum  of  the  sales  of  public  lands 
which  are  now  or  hereafter  may  be  owned  by  the  State. 

Sec.  5.  A  special  tax  of  not  less  than  one  mill  on  the 
dollar  of  all  taxable  property  in  the  State,  in  addition  to  the 
other  means  provided,  shall  be  levied  and  apportioned  annually 
for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  common  schools. 

Sec.  6.  T'he  principal  of  the  common  school  fund  shall 
remain  sacred  and  inviolate. 

Sec.  7.  Provision  shall  be  made  by  law  for  the  distribution 
of  the  common  school  fund  among  the  several  counties  of  the 
State  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children  residing  therein 
between  the  ages  of  four  and  twenty-one  years. 

Sec.  8.  Kach  county  shall  be  recjuired  to  raise  annually  by 
tax,  for  the  support  of  common  schools  therein,  a  sum  not  less 
than  one-half  the  amount  apportional  to  each  county  for  that 
year  from  the  income  of  the  common  school  fund.  Any  school 
district   neglecting   to  establish  and  maintain  for  at  least  three 


APPENDIX. 


391 


months  in  each  year  such  school  or  schools  as  may  be  provided 
by  law  for  sucli  district  shall  forfeit  its  portion  of  the  common 
school  fund  during  such  neglect. 

Sec.  9.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  Attorney-General,  shall  constitute  a  body 
corporate  to  be  known  as  the  Board  of  Education  of  Florida. 
The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  shall  be  President 
thereof.  The  duties  of  the  Board  o(  Education  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  Legislature. 

ARTICLE  X. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Sectkkx  I.  A  homestead,  to  the  extent  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  or  the  half  of  one  acre  within  the  limits  of 
any  incorporated  city  or  town,  owned  by  the  head  of  a  family, 
residing  in  this  State,  together  with  one  thousand  dollars  in 
value  of  personal  property,  and  the  improvements  on  the  real 
estate,  shall  be  exempted  from  forced  sale  under  any  process  of 
law,  and  the  real  estate  shall  not  be  alienable  without  the  joint 
consent  of  husband  and  wife,  when  that  relation  exists.  But  no 
property  shall  be  exempt  from  sale  for  taxes,  or  for  the  payment 
of  obligations  contracted  for  the  purchase  of  said  premises,  or 
for  the  erection  of  improvements  thereon,  or  for  house,  field  or 
other  labor  performed  on  the  same.  The  exemption  herein  pro- 
\  ided  for  in  a  city  or  town  shall  not  extend  to  more  improve- 
ments or  buildings  than  the  residence  and  business  houses  of  the 
owner. 

Sec.  2.  In  addition  to  the  exemption  provided  for  in  the 
first  section  of  this  article,  there  shall  be  and  remain  exempt 
from  sale  by  any  hgal  process  in  this  State,  to  the  head  of  a 
family  residing  in  this  State,  such  property  as  he  or  she  may 
select  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars ;  said  exemption  in 
this  section  shall  only  prevent  the  sale  of  property  in  cases  wheie 
the  debt  was  contracted,  liability  incurred,  or  judgment  obtained 
before  the  loth  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1S65.  Nothing  herein  con- 
tained shall  be  construed  as  to  exempt  any  property  from  sale 
for  payment  of  the  purchase-money  of  the  same,  or  for  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes  or  labor. 

Sec.  3.  The  exemptions  provided  for  in  sections  one  and 
two  of  this  article  shall  accrue  to  the  heirs  of  the  party  having 
enjoyed  or  taken  the  benefit  of  such  exemption,  and  the  exemj)- 
tion  provided  for  in  section  one  of  this  article  shall  apply  to  all 
debts  except  as  specified  in  said  section,  no  matter  when  or 
where  the  debt  was  contracted  or  liability  incurred. 


39^ 


APPENDIX 


ARTICLE  XI. 


PUHF.IC   INSTITUTIONS. 

Section  i.  Institutions  for  the  benefit  of  the  insane,  blind 
and  deaf,  and  such  other  benevolent  institutions  as  the  pubhc 
good  may  re<iuire,  shall  be  fostered  and  supported  by  the  State, 
subject  to  such  regulations  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

Sec.  2.  A  state  prison  shall  be  established  and  maintained 
in  such  a  manner  as  may  be  fixed  by  law.  Provision  may  be 
made  by  law  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  House 
of  Refuge  for  juvenile  offenders,  and  the  Legislature  shall  have 
power  to  establish  a  home  and  workhouse  for  common  vagrants. 

Skc.  3.  The  respective  courts  of  the  State  shall  provide  in 
the  manner  fixed  by  law  for  those  of  the  inhabitants  who  by 
reason  of  age,  infirmity,  or  misfortunes,  may  have  claims  upon 
the  aid  and  sympathy  of  society. 

ARTICLE   XII. 

MILITIA. 

Section  1.  All  able-bodied  male  inhabitants  of  the  State, 
between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years,  who  are 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  have  declared  their  intention  to 
become  citizens  thereof,  shall  constitute  the  militia  of  the  State, 
but  no  male  citizen  of  whatever  religious  creed  or  opinion  shall 
be  exempt  from  military  duty  except  upon  such  conditions  as 
may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  2.  I'he  Legislature  shall  provide  by  law  for  organizing 
and  disciplining  the  militia  of  the  State,  for  the  encouragement 
of  volunteer  corps,  the  safe  keeping  of  the  public  arms,  and  for 
a  guard  for  the  State  prison. 

Sec.  3.  The  x\djutant  General  shall  have  the  grade  of  Ma- 
jor General.  The  Governor,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  shall  appoint  two  Major  Generals  and  four  Brigadier 
Crenerals  of  militia;  they  shall  take  rank  according  to  the  date  of 
their  commissions.  The  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  State  militia, 
when  uniformed,  shall  wear  the  uniform  prescriljed  for  the 
Cnited  States  Army. 

Sec.  4.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  call  out  the 
militia  to  preserve  the  public  peace,  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
State,  and  to  suppress  insurrection  or  rej)el  invasion. 

ARTICLE   .\I1I. 

rAX.\TION   AND    I  IN  A  NCI.. 

Seciion  I.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  a  uniform  and 
eipial   rate  «>f  taxation,  and   shall  prescribe   such  regulations  as 


APPENDIX.  393 

shall  secure  a  just  valuation  of  all  property,  both  real  and  per- 
sonal, excepting  such  property  as  may  be  exempt  by  law  for 
municipal,  educational,  literary,  scientific,  religious,  or  char- 
itable purposes. 

Sec.  2.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  raising  reveni:- 
sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  State  for  each  nscal  year, 
and  also  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  the  ])rincipal  and  interest  of  th  t 
existing  indebtedness  of  the  State. 

Sec.  3.   No  tax  shall  be  levied  except  in  pursuance  of  lav/. 

Sec.  4.  No  moneys  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury  ex- 
cept in  pursuance  of  appropriation  made  by  law. 

Sec.  5.  An  accurate  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expen- 
ditures of  the  public  moneys  shall  be  published  with  the  laws  of 
each  regular  session  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  6.  The  Legislature  shall  authorize  the  several  counties 
and  incorporated  towns  in  the  State  to  impose  taxes  for  county 
and  incorporation  purposes,  and  for  no  other  purpose,  and  alL 
property  shall  be  taxed  upon  the  principle  established  for  Stat^ 
taxation.  The  Legislature  may  also  provide  for  levying  a  spe- 
cific capitation  tax  on  licenses.  But  the  capitation  tax  shall  not. 
exceed  one  dollar  per  annum  for  all  purposes,  excepting  hr 
State,  county,  or  municipal  taxes. 

Sec.  7.  The  Legislature  shall  have  power  to  provide  for 
issuing  State  bonds  bearing  interest,  for  securing  the  debt  of  the 
State,  and  for  the  erection  of  State  buildings,  support  of  Sta*:e 
institutions,  and  perfecting  public  works. 

Sec.  8.  No  tax  shall  be  levied  upon  persons  for  the  benefit 
of  any  chartered  company  of  the  State,  or  for  paying  the  interest 
on  any  bonds  issued  by  said  chartered  companies,  counties,  cr 
corporations,  for  the  above-mentioned  purposes,  and  any  laws  to 
the  contrary  are  hereby  declared  null  and  void. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

census  and  apportiontmhxt. 

The  Legislature  shall,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy- five,  and  every  tenth  year  thereafter,  cause  an 
enumeration  to  he  made  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  State;  and 
they  shall  then  proceed  to  apportion  the  representaiion  among 
the  different  counties,  giving  to  each  county  one  representative 
at  large,  and  one  additional  to  every  one  thousand  registered 
votes  therein,  but  no  county  shall  be  entitled  to  more  than  four 
representatives. 

The  Legislature  shall  also,  after  every  such  enumeration, 
proceed  to  fix  by  law  the   number  of  Senators  which  shall  con- 


394 


AIM'l.NDIX. 


stitiiie  ihe  Senate  of  Florida,  and  which  shall  never  be  less  than 
one-tourth,  nor  more  than  one-half  of  the  whole  number  of  the 
Assembly.  When  any  Senatorial  district  shall  be  composed  of 
two  or  more  counties,  the  counties  of  which  such  district  con- 
r,ists  shall  not  be  entn-ely  separated  by  any  county  belonging  to 
another  district,  and  no  county  shall  be  divided  in  forming  a 
district,  and  all  counties  shall  remain  as  now  organized  unless- 
changed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  houses   of  the  Legislature. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

SUKKRAGK  AND   KLIGIHILITN. 

Skction  1.  Every  male  person  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  and  upw  ards,  of  whatever  race,  color,  nationality,  or  pre- 
vious condition,  or  who  shall,  at  the  time  of  offering  to  vote,  be 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  have  declared  his  in- 
tention to  become  such  in  conformity  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  have  resided  and  had  his  habitation,  dom- 
icil,  home,  and  place  of  permanent  abode  in  Florida  for  one  year, 
and  in  the  county  for  six  months,  next  preceding  the  election  at 
which  he  shall  offer  to  vote,  shall  in  such  county  be  deemed  a. 
«!ualified  elector  at  all  elections  under  this  Constitution.  Every 
elector  shall,  at  the  time  of  his  registration,  take  and  subscribe- 
to  the  following  oath: 

I,  ,  do  solemnly  swear  that   I   will  support,  protect^ 

and  defend  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  Florida,  against 
all  enemies,  foreign  or  domestic;  that  I  will  bear  true  faith,  loy- 
alty, and  allegiance  to  the  same,  any  ordinances  or  resolution  of 
any  State  Convention  or  legislation  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing, so  help  me  Ciod. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  under  guardianship,  uon  compos  mentis, 
or  insane,  shall  be  qualified  to  vote  at  any  election  unless  restored 
to  civil  rights 

Sec.  3.  At  any  election  at  which  a  citizen  or  subject  of  an\ 
foreign  country  shall  offer  to  vote,  under  the  })rovisions  of  this- 
Constitution,  he  shall  present  to  the  persons  lawfully  authorized 
to  conduct  and  supervise  such  election  a  duly  sealed  and  certified 
copy  of  his  declaration  of  intention;  otherwise  he  shall  not  be 
allowed  to  vote;  and  any  naturalized  citizen  offering  to  vote- 
shall  produce  before  said  persons,  lawfully  authorized  to  con- 
duct and  supervise  the  election,  his  certificate  of  naturalization, 
or  a  duly  sealed  and  certified  copy  thereof;  otherwise  he  shall 
not  be  permitted  to  vote. 

Sec.  4.   The   Legislature  shall    have  i)()wer  and  shall  enact 


APPENDIX.  395 

the  necessary  laws  to  exclude  from  every  office  of  honor,  power, 
trust  or  profit,  civil  or  military,  within  the  State,  and  from  the 
right  of  suffrage,  all  persons  convicted  of  bribery,  perjury,  lar- 
ceny, or  of  infamous  crime,  or  who  shall  make  or  become,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  interested  in  any  bet  or  wager,  the  result  of 
which  shall  depend  upon  any  election;  or  who  shall  hereafter 
fight  a  duel,  or  send  or  accept  a  challenge  to  fight,  or  who  shall 
be  a  second  to  either  party,  or  be  the  bearer  of  such  challenge 
or  acceptance;  but  the  legal'  disability  shall  not  accrue  until  after 
trial  and  conviction  by  due  form  of  law. 

Sec.  5.  In  all  elections  by  the  Legislature  the  vote  shall  be 
viva  voce,  and  in  all  elections  by  the  people  the  vote  shall  be  by 
ballot. 

Sec.  6.  The  Legislature  at  its  first  session  after  the  ratifica- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  shall  by  law  provide  for  the  registration, 
by  the  Clerks  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  each  county,  of  all  the 
legally  qualified  voters  in  such  county,  and  for  the  returns  of 
elections;  and  shall  also  provide  that  after  the  completion,  from 
time  to  time,  of  such  registration,  no  person  not  duly  registered 
according  to  law  shall  be  allowed  to  vote. 

Sec.  7.  The  Legislature  shall  enact  laws  requiring  educa- 
tional qualifications  for  electors  after  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eighty,  but  no  such  laws  shall  be  made  applicable 
ro  any  elector  who  may  have  registered  or  voted  at  any  election 
previous  thereto. 

ARTICLE  XVL 

SCHEDULE. 

Section  i.  That  all  ordinances  and  resolutions  heretofore 
passed  by  any  convention  of  the  people,  and  all  acts  and  reso- 
lutions of  the  Legislature  conflicting  or  inconsistent  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  statutes  thereof,  and 
with  this  constitution,  and  in  derogation  of  the  existence  or  po- 
sition of  the  State  as  one  of  the  States  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  are  hereby  declared  null  and  void,  and  of  no  effect. 

Sec.  2.  That  all  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  all  olhcial  acts  of  the  civil  officers  of  the  State,  not  in- 
consistent with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  and  statutes 
of  the  United  States,  or  with  the  Constitution,  or  with  any  ordi- 
nance or  resolution  adopted  by  the  convention,  and  which  have 
not  been,  and  are  not  by  this  constitution,  annulled,  are  in  force, 
and  shall  be  considered  and  esteemed  as  the  laws  of  the  State 
until  such  acts  or  resolutions  shall  be  repealed  by  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  or  this  convention. 


396  APPKNDIX. 

Sec.  3.  All  laws  of  the  State  passed  by  the  so-called  Gen- 
eral Assembly  since  the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D,  1868,  not 
conflicting  with  the  word  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  United  States,  or  with  this  constitution,  shall  be  valid ;  all 
writs,  acts,  proceedings,  judgments,  and  decrees  of  the  so-called 
courts  of  the  State,  when  actual  service  wa*^  made,  as  the  defen- 
dant, all  executions  and  sales  made  thereunder,  and  all  acts,  or- 
ders and  proceedings  of  the  Judges  of  Probate,  and  of  executors, 
administrators,  guardians,  and  trustees,  provided  they  were  in 
conformity  with  the  laws  then  in  force,  and  did  not  conflict  wuh 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and  this  con- 
stitution, shall  be  valid  ;  the  sales  of  the  property  or  effects  of 
deceased  persons  shall  not  prevent  the  widow  from  claiming  said 
property  in  kind,  in  whosoever  hands  the  same  may  be  found, 
where  the  sale  had  not  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the 
debts  of  deceased,  and  where  other  than  lawful  money  of  the 
United  States  was  obtained  for  said  property. 

Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  make 
any  one  who  was  an  officer  of  any  court,  or  who  acted  under  the 
authority  of  any  court  individually  liable,  provided  they  acted 
strictly  in  accordance  with  what  was  then  considered  the  law  of 
the  State,  and  not  conflicting  with  the  laws  and  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

All  fines,  penalties,  forfeitures,  obligations,  and  escheats 
heretofore  accruing  to  the  State  of  Florida  shall  continue  to  ac- 
crue to  the  use  of  the  State. 

All  recognizances  heretofore  taken  shall  remain  valid,  and 
all  bonds  executed  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida,  either 
before  or  since  the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1861,  or  to 
any  other  officer  of  the  State,  in  his  official  capacity,  shall  be  of 
full  force  and  virtue,  for  the  uses  therein  respectively  expressed, 
and  may  be  sued  for  and  recovered  accordingly,  unless  they 
were  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  or  this  constitu- 
tion, or  to  any  ordinance  or  resolution  adopted  by  the  conven- 
tion;  also  all  criminal  prosecutions  which  have  arisen  maybe 
prosecuted  to  judgment  and  execution  in  the  name  of  the  State. 

All  actions  at  law  or  suits  in  chancery,  or  any  proceedings 
jjending  in  the  courts  of  thij  State,  either  prior  to  or  subsequent 
to  the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D.,  1861,  shall  continue  in  all  re- 
si)ects  valid,  and  may  be  prosecuted  to  judgment  and  decree. 

All  judgments  and  decrees  rendered  in  civil  causes  in  any 
of  the  courts  of  the  State  during  the  period  of  time  above  speci- 
fied, are  hereby  declared  of  full  force,  validity,  and  effect,  pro- 
vided that  unless  otherwise  providiai  in  this  constitution,  the 
statute  of  limitation  shall  not  be  j^leaded  upon  any  claim  in 
the  hands    of  an}-  person    for  the  period  of  time  between  the 


APPKNDIX  397 

loth  day  of  January,  A.  D.,  1861,  and  the  25th  day  of  Octo- 
ber, A.  D.,  1865,  whether  proceedings  at  law  had  been  com- 
menced before  the  25th  day  of  October,  1865,  or  not;  provid- 
ed further,  that  all  claims  of  widows,  minors,  and  decen- 
dents,  which  were  not  barred  by  the  statutesof  this  State,  on 
the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D.,  1861,  shall  be  considered  good 
and  valid  for  the  period  of  two  years  for  the  ratification  of  this 
constitution. 

Sec.  4.  That  State  treasury  notes,  all  bonds  issued,  and  all 
other  liabilities  contracted  by  the  State  of  Florida,  or  any  county 
OF  city  thereof,  on  and  after  the  i6th  day  of  January,  A.  D., 
1861,  and  before  the  26th  day  of  Obtober,  A.  D.,  1865,  except 
such  liabilities  as  may  be  due  to  the  seminary  or  school  fund, 
be  and  are  declared  null  and  void,  and  the  Legislature  shall 
have  no  power  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  same  or  any 
part  thereof,  but  this  shall  not  be  construed  so  as  to  invalidate 
any  authorized  liabilities  of  the  State  contracted  prior  to  the  loth 
day  of  January  A.  D.,  1 861,  or  subsequent  to  the  25th  day  of 
October,  A.  D.,  1865. 

Sec.  5.  No  money  shall  ever  be  appropriated  by  this  Slate 
to  reimburse  purchasers  of  United  States  land  who  purchased 
the  same  of  the  State  of  Florida. 

Sec.  6.  All  proceedings,  decisions,  or  actions  accomplished 
by  civil  or  military  officers  acting  under  authority  of  the  United 
States  subsequent  to  the  loth  day  of  January,  1861,  and  prior  to 
the  final  restoration  of  the  State  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  are  hereby  declared  valid,  and  shall  not  be  subject  to  ad- 
judication  in  the  courts  of  this  State;  nor  shall  any  person  act- 
ing in  the  capacity  of  a  soldier  or  officer  of  the  United  States, 
civil  or  military,  be  subject  to  arrest  for  any  act  performed  by 
him  pursuant  to  authorized  instruction  from  his  superior  officers 
during  the  period  of  time  above  designated. 

Sec.  7.  That  in  all  cases  where  judgments  have  been  ob- 
tained against  citizens  of  the  State  after  the  loth  day  of  January, 
1 86 1,  previous  to  the  25th  day  of  October,  1865,  and  where  ac- 
tual service  was  not  made  on  the  person  of  any  department. 
Such  defendant,  not  served  with  process,  may  appear  in  court 
within  one  year  after  the  adoption  0/  this  constitution,  and  make 
oath  that  injustice  has  been  done  and  that  he  or  she  has  a  good 
and  valid  defence,  and  upon  making  such  oath  and  filing  said 
defence  the  proceedings  in  the  judgment  shall  cease  until  the 
defence  is  heard. 


398  APPENDIX. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Seciion  I.  Any  person  debarred  from  holding  office  in  the 
State  of  Florida  by  the  third  section  of  the  fourteenth  article  of 
tne  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  L^nited 
States,  which  is  as  follows  : 

"No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Represenative  in  Congress, 
or  elector  of  President  or  Vice-President,  or  hold  any  office,  civil 
or  military,  under  the  United  States  or  under  any  State,  who. 
having  previously  taken  an  oath  as  a  member  of  Congress,  or  as 
an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any  State  Leg- 
islature, or  as  an  exeeutive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  en- 
gaged in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid 
and  comfort  to  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  disabiUty,"  is  hereby 
debarred  from  holding  office  in  this  State  :  Provided,  That  when- 
ever such  disability  from  holding  office  shall  be  removed  from 
any  person  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  removal  of 
such  disability  shall  also  apply  to  this  State,  and  such  person 
shall  be  restored,  in  all  respects,  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  as 
herein  provided  for  electors. 

Sec.  2.  Any  person  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  by  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  or  any  person  elected  by 
the  people,  or  appointed  to  office  by  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
or  by  any  officer  of  the  State,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Con- 
stitudon  adopted  by  the  convention  of  the  people,  convened  on 
the  25th  day  of  October.  1865,  shall  not  be  empowered  to  hold 
such  office  after  the  same  position  or  office  shall  have  been^  filled 
by  election  or  appointment  under  the  provisions  of  this  Consti- 
tution. Provided,  That  all  officers  holding  office  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Consdtution  adopted  the  25th  day  of  October,  A. 
D.  1856,  and  not  provided  for  in  this  Constitution,  shall  con- 
tinue to  hold  their  respective  offices,  and  discharge  the  duties 
thereof,  until  the  Governor  shall,  by  his  proclamation,  declare 
such  offices  vacant. 

Sec.  3.  The  several  judicial  circuits  of  the  Circuit  Courts, 
shall  be  as  follows  :  The  first  judicial  circuits  shall  be  composed 
of  the  counties  of  Escambia,  Santa  Rosa,  Walton,  Holmes, 
Washington  and  Jackson  ;  the  2d  judicial  circuit  shall  be  com- 
posed of  the  counties  of  Gadsden,  Liberty,  Calhoun,  Franklin. 
Leon,  Wakulla  and  Jefferson ;  the  3d  judicial  circuit  shall  be 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Madison,  Taylor,  Lafayette,  Ham- 
ilton, Suwanee  and  Columbia  ;  the  4th  judicial  circuit  shall  be 


APPENDIX.  399 

composed  of  the  counties  of  Nassau,  Duval,  Baker,  Bradford, 
Clay  and  St.  Johns;  the  5th  judicial  circuit  shall  be  composed  of 
the  counties  of  Putnam,  Alachua,  Ivevy,  Marion  and  Sumpter ; 
the  6th  judicial  circuit  shall  be  composed  of  the  counties  of  Her- 
nando, Hillsborough,  Manatee,  Polk  and  Monroe;  the  7th  judi- 
cial circuit  shall  be  composed  of  the  counties  of  Volusia,  Brevard, 
Orange  and  Dade. 

Sec.  4.  The  salary  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  shall  be 
^5,000  per  annum;  that  of  the  Chief  Justice  shall  be  $4  500  ; 
that  of  each  Associate  Justice  shall  be  $4,000;  that  of  each 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  shall  be  $3,500  ;  that  of  the  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor shall  be  $2,500  ;  that  of  each  Cabinet  officer  shall 
be  $3,000.  The  pay  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Bepresentatives  shall  be  $500  per  annum,  and  in  addition 
thereto  ten  cents  per  miles  for  each  mile  traveled  from  their  re- 
spective places  of  residence  to  the  capital,  and  the  same  to  re- 
turn. But  such  distances  shall  be  estimated  by  the  shortest  gen- 
eral public  thoroughfare.  All  other  officers  of  the  State  shall  be 
paid  by  fees  as  per  diem  fixed  by  law. 

Sec.  5.  The  Leg:islature  shall  appropriate  $2,000  each  year 
for  the  purchase  of  such  books  for  the  Supreme  Court  library  as 
the  said  Court  shall  direct. 

Sec.  6.  The  salary  of  each  officer  shall  be  payable  (juarterly 
upon  his  own  requisition. 

Sec.  7.  The  tribe  of  Indians  located  in  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  State,  and  known  as  the  Seminole  Indians,  shall  be 
entitled  to  one  member  in  each  house  of  the  Legislature.  Such 
members  shall  have  all  the  rights,  privileges  and  remuneration  as 
other  members  of  the  Legislature.  Such  members  shall  be 
elected  by  the  members  of  their  tribe,  in  the  manner  prescribed 
for  all  elections  by  this  Constitution.  The  tribe  shall  be  repre- 
sented only  by  a  member  of  the  same,  and  m  no  case  by  a 
M-hite  man  :  Provided,  That  the  representatives  of  die  Seminole 
Indians  shall  not  be  a  bar  to  the  representative  of  any  county  by 
the  citizens  thereof. 

Sec.  8.  The  Legislature  may  at  any  time  impose  such  tax 
on  the  Indians  as  they  may  deem  proper ;  and  such  imposition  of 
tax  shall  constitute  the  Indians  citizens,  and  they  shall  thence- 
forward be  entitled  to'all  the  priviliges  of  other  citizens,  and  there- 
after be  barred  of  special  representation. 

Sec.  9.  In  addition  to  other  crimes  and  misdemeanors  for 
which  an  officer  may  be  mnpeached  and  tried,  shall  be  included 
drunkenness  and  other  dissipations  ;  incompetency,  malfeasance 
in  office,  gambling  or  any  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals, 
shall  be  considered  sufficient  cause  for  impeachment  and  convic- 
tion.    Any  officer  when,  impeached  by   the   Assembly   shall  be 


400  APPENDIX. 

deemed  under  arrest,  and  shall  be  disqualified  from  performing 
any  of  the  duties  of  his  office  until  acquitted  by  the  Senate. 
But  any  officer  so  impeached  and  in  arrest  may  demand  his 
trial  by  the  Senate  \\  ithin  ten  days  from  the  date  of  his  impeach- 
ment. 

Sec.  io.  The  following  shall  be  the  oath  of  office  for  each 
officer  in  the  State,  including  members  of  the  Legislature  :  "I  do 
solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support,  protect  and  defend  the  Con- 
'^titution  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  State 
of  Florida,  against  all  enemies,  domestic  or  foreign,  and  that  I 
will  bear  true  faith,  loyalty  and  allegiance  to  the  same,  and  that 
1  am  entitled  to  hold  office  under  this  Constitution.     That   I  will 

^vell  and  faithfully  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  office  of , 

which  1  am  about  to  enter :  so  help  me  God." 

Sec.  II.  The  Legislature  may  provide  for  the  donation  of 
.he  public  lands  to  actual  settlers.  But  such  donation  shall 
not  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  to  any  one  person. 

Sec.  1 2.  All  county  officers  shall  hold  their  respective  offices 
at  the  county  seats  of  their  counties. 

Sec.  13.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  tlie  speedy  pub- 
lication of  all  statutes  and  laws  of  general  nature.  All  decisions 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  laws  and  judicial  decisions  shall 
be  for  free  publication  by  any  person.  But  no  judgment  of  the 
Supreme  Court  shall  take  effect  and  be  operative  until  the 
opinion  of  the  court  in  such  a  case  shall  be  filed  with  the  clerk  of 
said  court. 

Sec.  14.  The  Legislature  shall  not  create  any  office,  the 
term  of  which  shall  be  longer  than  four  years. 

Sec.  15.  The  Governor,  Cabinet  and  Suj^reine  Court  shall 
keep  their  offices  at  the  seat  of  Government.  But  in  case  of  in- 
vasion or  violent  epidemics,  the  Governor  may  direct  that  the 
offices  of  the  Government  shall  be  removed  temporarily  to  some 
other  place.  The  session  of  the  Legislature  may  be  adjourned 
for  the  same  cause  to  some  other  place  ;  but  in  such  case  of  re- 
moval,  all  the  Departments  of  the  Government  shall  be  removed 
to  one  place.  But  such  removal  shall  not  continue  longer  than 
the  necessity  for  the  same  shall  continue. 

Sec  16.  A  plurality  of  votes  given  at  an  election  by  the 
people  shall  constitute  a  choice  when  not  otherwise  provided  for 
by  this  Constitution. 

Sec.  17.  The  term  of  the  State  officers  elected  at  the  first 
election  under  this  Constitution,  not  otherwise  provided  for, 
shall  continue  until  the  first  Tuesday  of  January,  A.  D.  1873. 
and  until  the  installation  of  their  successors,  excei/ting  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  18.  Each  county  and  incorporated  city  shall  make  pro- 


JOHNATHAN    C    GIBBS. 


APPENDIX.  401 

vision  for  the  support  of  its  own  officers,  subject  to  such  regula- 
tions as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  Each  county  shall  make 
provision  for  building  a  court-house  and  jail,  and  for  keeping  the 
same  in  good  repair. 

Sec.  19.  If  at  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  at  any  session  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  has  not  qualified  or  is  not  present,  the  Sen- 
ate shall  elect  one  of  its  members  as  temporary  President  before 
proceeding  to  other  business. 

Sec.  20.  The  Legislature  shall  at  the  first  session  adopt  a 
seal  for  the  State,  and  such  seal  shall  be  the  size  of  the  Ameri- 
can silver  dollar.  But  said  seal  shall  not  again  be  changed  after 
its  adoption  by  the  Legislature;  and  the  Governor  shall,  by  his 
proclamation,  announce  that  the  said  seal  has  become  the  great 
seal  of  the  State. 

Sec.  21.  The  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  all  the 
State  officers  elected  by  the  people  shall  be  installed  on  the  first 
day  of  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  and  immediately  assume 
the  duties  of  their  respective  offices. 

Sec.  32.  The  Governor  andLieutenant  Governor  shall  have 
been,  before  their  election  to  office,  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  three  *  years  a  citizen  of  the  State.  All 
other  officers  shall  have  been  one  year  a  citizen  of  the  State,  and 
six  months  a  citizen  of  the  county  from  which  they  are  elected 
or  appointed.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  unless  he 
be  a  registered  voter. 

Sec.  23.  The  Governor  or  any  State  officer  is  hereby  pro- 
hibited from  giving  certificates  of  election  or  other  credentials 
to  any  person  as  having  been  elected  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  Congress,  or  the  United 
States  Senate,  who  has  not  been  two  years  a  citizen  of  the  State. 
and  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  registered 
voter. 

Sec.  24.  The  property  ot  all  corporations,  whether  heretofore 
or  hereafter  incorporated,  shall  be  subject  to  taxation,  unless 
such  corporatian  be  for  refigious,  educational,  or  charitable  pur- 
poses. 

Sec.  25.  All  bills,  bonds,  notes,  and  evidences  of  debt  out- 
standing and  unpaid,  given  for  or  in  consideration  of  bonds  or 
treasury  notes  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  or  notes  and 
bonds  of  this  State  paid  and  redeemable  in  the  bonds  and  notes 
of  the  Confederate  States,  are  hereby  declared  null  and  void, 
and  no  action  shall  be  maintained  thereon  in  the  courts  of  this 
State. 

Sec.  26.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  courts  to  consider  that 
there  is  a  failure  of  consideration,  and  it  shall  be  so  held  by  the 

25 


40  2 


APPRNDIX. 


courts  of  this  State,  upon  all  deeds  or  bills  of  sale  given  for  slaves 
with  covenant  or  warranty  of  title  or  soundness,  or  both;  upon 
all  bills,  bonds,  notes,  or  other  evidences  of  debt,  given  for  or  in 
consideration  of  slaves,  which  are  now  outstanding  and  unpaid, 
and  no  action  shall  be  maintained  thereon;  and  all  judgments 
and  decrees  rendered  in  any  ot  the  courts  of  this  State  since  the 
loth  of  January,  A.  D.  1861,  upon  all  deeds  or  bills  of  sale,  or 
upon  anv  bond,  bill,  note,  or  other  evidence  of  debt  based  upon 
ihe  sale  or  purchase  of  slaves,  are  hereby  declared  set  aside,  and 
the  plea  of  failure  of  consideration  shall  be  held  a  good  defence 
in  all  actions  to  said  suit:  and  that  when  money  was  due  previ- 
ous  to  the  10th  day  of  January,  1861,  and  slaves  were  given  in 
consideration  for  such  money,  thase  shall  be  deemed  a  failure 
of  consideration  for  the  debt:  Provided,  That  settlements  and 
compromises  of  such  transactions  made  by  the  parties  thereto 
shall  be  respected. 

Sec.  27.  All  persons  who,  as  alien  enemies  under  the  se- 
ta uestration  act  of  the  so-called  Confederate  Congress,  and  now 
Resident  of  the  State,  had  property  sequestered  and  sold  by  any 
person  acting  under  a  law  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States, 
or  the  State  of  Florida,  subsequent  to  the  loth  of  January,  A. 
D.  i86r,  and  prior  to  the  ist  of  January,  1865,  shall  be  empow- 
ered to  file  a  bill  in  equity  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  State,  and 
shall  be  entitled  to  obtain  judgment  against  the  State  lor  all  dam- 
ages sustained  by  said  sale  and  detention  of  property.  The 
court  shall  estimate  the  damages  upon  the  assessed  valuation  of 
the  property  in  question  in  the  year  A.  D.  1870,  with  interest, 
at  six  per  cent,  from  the  time  the  owner  was  deprived  of  the 
same.  But  all  judgments  against  the  State  shall  be  paid  only 
in  certificates  of  indebtedness,  redeemable  in  State  lands.  Said 
certificates  shall  be  issued  by  the  Governor,  countersigned  by 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  by  the  Comptroller,  upon  the  decree 
of  the  court.  Oral  testimony  shall  be  sufficient  to  establish  the 
fact  of  a  sale  having  been  made. 

Sec.  28.  There  shall  be  no  civil  or  political  distinction  in 
this  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude,  and  the  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  prohibit 
by  law  any  class  of  persons  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previ- 
ous condition  of  servitude,  to  vote  or  hold  any  office,  beyond 
the  conditions  prescribed  by  this  constituion. 

Skc.  29.  The  api)ortionment  for  the  Assembly  shall  be  as 
follows:  Escambia,  two;  Santa  Rosa,  one;  Walton,  one;  Holmes, 
one;  Washington,  one;  Jackson,  three;  Calhoun,  one;  (iadsden, 
two;  Franklin,  one;  Liberty,  one;  Wakulla,  one;  Leon,  four; 
lefferson,  three;  Madison,  two;  Taylor,  one;  Hamilton,  one; 
Suwanee,    one:  Lafayette,   one;  Alachua,    two;  Columbia,    two; 


APPENDIX.  403 

Baker,  one;  Bradford,  one;  Nassau,  one;  Duval,  two;  Clay, 
one;  St.  John's,  one;  Putnam,  one;  Marion,  two;  Levy,  one; 
Volusia,  one:  Orange,  one;  Brevard,  one;  Dade,  one;  Hillsbor- 
ough, one;  Hernando,  one;  Sumter,  one;  Polk,  one;  Manatee, 
one;  and  Monroe,  one.  There  shall  be  twenty-four  senatorial 
districts,  which  shall  be  as  follows,  and  shall  be  known  by  their 
respective  numbers  from  one  to  twenty-four  inclusive.  The  first 
senatorial  district  shall  be  composed  of  Escambia  county;  the 
second,  of  Santa  Rosa  and  Walton:  the  third,  of  Jackson;  the 
fourth,  of  Volusia  and  Washington;  the  fifth,  of  Calhoun  and 
Franklin;  the  sixth,  of  Gadsden;  the  seventh,  of  Liberty  and 
Wakulla;  the  eighth,  of  Leon:  the  ninth  of  Jefferson;  the  tenth, 
of  Madison;  the  eleventh,  of  .Hamilton  and  Suwanee;  the 
twelfth,  of  Lafayette  and  Taylor:  the  thirteenth,  of  Alabhua 
and  Levy;  the  foureenth,  of  Columbia;  the  fifteenth,  of 
Bradford  and  Clay;  the  sixteenth,  of  Baker  and  Nassau; 
the  seventeenth,  of  St.  John's  and  Putnam;  the  eight- 
eenth, of  Duval:  the  nineteenth,  of  Marion;  the  twen- 
tieth, of  Volusia  and  Orange;  the  twenty-first,  of  Dade 
and  Brevard;  the  twenty-second,  of  Hillsborough  and 
Hernando;  the  twenty-third,  of  Sumter  and  Polk;  the  twenty- 
fourth,  of  Manatee  and  Monroe:  and  each  senatorial  district 
shall  be  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

Sec.  30.  No  person  shall  ever  be  appointed  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  or  Circuit  Court  who  is  not  25  years  of  age  and 
practicing  attorney. 

Sec.  31.  The  Legislature  shall,  as  soon  as  convenient, 
adopt  a  State  emblem  having  the  design  of  the  great  seal  of  the 
State  impressed  upon  a  white  ground  of  six  feet  six  inches  fly 
and  six  feet  deep. 

ARTICLE  XVHL 

amendments. 

Any  amendment  or  amendments  to  this  Constitution  may 
be  proposed  in  either  branch  of  the  Legislature;  and  if  the  same 
shall  be  agreed  upon  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the  menibers 
elected  to  each  of  the  two  houses,  such  proposed  amendment  or 
amendments  shall  be  entered  on  their  respective  journals,  with 
the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred  to  the  Legislature  then 
next^to  be  chosen,  and  shall  be  published  for  three  months  next 
preceding  the  time  of  making  such  choice;  and  if,  in  the  Legis- 
lature next  chosen  as  aforesaid,  such  proposed  amendment  or 
amendments  shall  be  agreed  to  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the 
members  elected  to  each  house,  then  it   should  be  the  duty   of 


404  APPENDIX. 

the  Legislature  to  submit  such  proposed  amendment  or  amend- 
ments to  the  people  in  such  manner  and  at  such  time  as  the 
Legislature  may  prescribe;  and  if  the  people  shall  approve  and 
ratify  such  amendment  or  amendments  by  a  majority  of  the 
electors  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  Legislature  voting 
thereon,  such  amendment  or  amendments  shall  become  a  part 
of  the  Constitution. 

Sec.  2.  If  at  any  time  the  Legislature,  by  a  vote  of  a  ma- 
jority of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two  houses,  shall 
determine  that  it  is  necessary  to  cause  a  revision  oi  this  entire 
Constitution,  such  determination  shall  be  entered  on  their  re- 
spective journals,  with  the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred 
to  the  Legislature  then  next  to  be  chosen,  and  shall  be  published 
for  three  months  next  preceding  the  time  of  making  such  choice. 

And  if  m  the  Legislature  next  chosen  aforesaid  such  proposed 
revision  shall  be  agreed  to  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected 
to  each  house,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to 
recommend  to  the  electors  of  the  next  election  for  members  of 
the  Legislature  to  vote  for  or  against  a  convention;  and  if  it 
shall  appear  that  a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  at  such  elec- 
tion shall  have  voted  in  favor  of  calling  a  convention,  the  Legis- 
lature shall,  at  its  next  session,  provide  by  law  for  a  convention, 
to  be  holden  within  six  months  after  the  passage  of  such  law, 
and  such  convention  shall  consist  of  a  number  of  members  not 
less  than  both  branches  of  the  Legislature. 

In  determining  what  is  a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  at 
such  election,  reference  shall  be  had  to  the  highest  number  of 
votes  cast  at  such  election  for  the  candidates  for  any  office  or  on 
any  (Question. 


^PPEi^DIX  C 


FLORIDA. 


MESSAGE  FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES, 

Transmitting  papers  relating  to  proceedings  in  the  State  of  Florida. — 
May  2(p,  1868 — Referred  to  the  Committee   on  Recon- 
struction and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


To  the  Senate  a)id  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  transmit  to  Congress  the  accompanying  documents,  which 
are  the  only  papers  that  have  been  submitted  to  me  relating  to, 
the  proceeding's  to  which  they  refer  in  the  State  of  Florida. 

ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  27,  1868. 


Washix(;ton,  D.  C,  May  27,  186S. 

Sir  :  In  compliance  with  a  provision  of  an  Act  of  the  United 
States  Congress,  entided  "An  Act  supplementary  to  an  Act  to 
provide  a  more  efficient  govermnent  in  the  rebel  States,"  I  have 
the  honor,  as  President  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  the 
State  of  Florida,  herewith  to  transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  the  Con- 
stitution framed  and  adopted  by  the  convention,  and  ratified  by 
the  people  of  Florida  at  a  duly  authorized  election  held  on  the 
4th,  5th  and  6th  instant. 

I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant. 

HORATIO  JENKINS,  Jr., 

President,  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  State  of  Florida. 

His  Excellency,  Andrew  Johnson, 

President  of  the  United  States. 


4C6  APPENDIX. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE  OF  FLORIDA. 

PREAMBLE. 

We.  the  j^eople  of  the  State  of  Florida,  grateful  to  Almighty 
God  for  our  freedom,  in  order  to  secure  its  blessings  and  form  a 
more  perfect  government,  insuring  domestic  tranquillity,  main- 
taining public  order,  perpetuating  liberty  and  guaranteeing  equal 
civil  and  political  rights  to  all,  do  establish  this  Constitution. 

1)K(  LAKA'llON  OK  KKiHTS. 

Section-  i.  All  men  are  by  nature  free  and  equal,  and  have 
certain  inalienable  rights,  among  Avhich  are  those  of  enjoying  and 
defending  life  and  liberty,  acquiring,  possessing  and  protecting 
property,  and  pursuing  and  obtaining  safety  and  happiness. 

Sec.  2.  All  political  power  is  inherent  in  the  people.  Gov- 
ernment IS  instituted  for  the  protection,  security  and  benefit  of 
its  citizens;  and  they  have  the  right  to  alter  or  amend  the  same 
whenever  the  public  good  may  require  it,  but  the  paramount  al- 
legiance of  every  citizen  is  due  to  the  Federal  Government,  and 
no  power  exists  with  the  people  of  this  State  to  dissolve  its  con- 
nection therewith. 

Sec.  3.  This  State  shall  ever  remain  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
'  an  Union;  the  people  thereof  a  part  of  the  American  nation  ; 
and  any  attempt  from  whatever  source,  or  upon  whatever  pre- 
tence, to  dissolve  said  Union,  or  to  sever  said  nation,  shall  be 
resisted  with  the  whole  power  of  the  State. 

Sec  4.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  secured  to  all,  and 
remain  inviolate  forever  ;  but  in  all  civil  cases  a  jury  trial  may  be 
waived  by  the  parties,  in  the  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  5.  The  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  all  religious  pro- 
fession and  worship  shall  forever  be  allowed  in  this  State,  and 
no  person  shall  be  rendered  incompetent  as  a  witness  on  account 
of  his  religious  opinions  :  but  the  liberty  of  conscience  hereby 
secured  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  justify  licentiousness,  or 
practices  subversive  of  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State. 

Sec.  6.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  when  in  case  of  invasion  or  rebellion  the 
public  safety  may  require  its  suspension. 

Sec.  7.  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive 
fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  or  unusual  punishments  inflicted,  nor 
shall  witnesses  be  unreasonably  detained. 

Sec.  8.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties, 
unless  for  capital  offences  when  the  ]jroof  is  evident  01  the  pre- 
sumption great. 


AI'I'ENDIX.  407 

Sec.  9.  No  person  shall  be  tried  for  a  capital  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  and  in  cases  of 
the  militia  when  in  active  service  in  time  of  war,  or  in  w^hich  the 
State  may  keep,  w'ith  the  consent  of  Congress,  in  time  of  peace, 
and  in  cases  of  petit  larceny  under  the  regulation  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, unless  on  presentment  and  indictment  by  a  grand  jury;  and 
in  any  trial  by  any  court  the  party  accused  shall  be  allowed  to 
a|)pear  and  defend  in  person  and  with  counsel,  as  in  civil  ao 
tifjns.  No  person  shall  be  subject  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy 
for  the  same  offence,  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case 
to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall  private  property 
be  taken  without  just  compensation. 

Sec.  10.  Every  citizen  may  fully  speak  and  write  his  senti- 
ments on  all  subjects,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that 
right,  and  no  law  shall  be  passed  to  restrain  or  abridge  the  lib- 
erty of  speech  or  the  press.  In  all  criminal  prosecutions  and 
civil  actions  for  libel  the  truth  may  be  given  in  evidence  to  the 
jury,  and  if  it  shall  appear  that  the  matter  charged  as  libellous  is 
true,  but  was  published  for  good  motives,  the  party  shall  be  ac- 
quitted or  exonerated. 

Sec.  II.  The  people  shall  have  the  right  to  assemble  to* 
gether,  to  consult  for  the  common  good,  to  instruct  their  repre- 
sentatives, and  to  petition  the  Legislature  for  a  redress  of  griev. 
ances. 

Sec.  12.  All  laws  of  a  general  nature  shall  have  a  uniform 
operation. 

Sec.  13.   The  mihtary  shall  be  subordinate  to  civil  power. 

Sec.  14.  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in 
any  house  except  w4th  the  consent  of  the  owners,  nor  in  time  ot 
war,  except  in  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  15.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  according 
to  population,  as  well  as  may  be,  but  no  county  shall  have 
more  than  four  Representatives  or  less  than  one  Representative  in 
the  Assembly. 

Sec.  16.  No  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt,  except  m 
case  of  fraud. 

Sec.  17.  No  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  law,  or  laws 
impairing  the  obligations  of  contracts  shall  ever  be  passed. 

Foreigners  who  are,  or  who  may  hereafter  become,  bona 
fide  residents  of  the  State,  shall  enjoy  the  same  rights  in  re- 
spect to  posession,  enjoyment  and  inheritance  of  property  as 
native  born  citizens. 

Sec.  19.  Neithe:-  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  unless 
for  the  punishment  of  crime,  shall  ever  be  tolerated  in  this  State. 

Sec.  20.   The  rights  of  the  people   to  be    secure   in    their 


400 


APPENDIX. 


persons,  houses  and  cftects,  against  unreasonable  seizures  and 
searches,  shall  not  be  violated ;  and  no  warrants  issued  but  in 
]^robable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation  particularly- 
describing  the  place  or  places  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or 
persons  and  thing  or  things  to  be  seized. 

Sec.  2  1.  Treason  against  the  State  shall  consist  only  in 
levying  war  against  it,  adhering  to  its  enemies,  or  giving  them 
aid  and  comfort ;  and  no  person  snail  be  convicted  of  treason 
unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  covert  act 
or  confession  in  open  court. 

Skc.  2  2.  The  people  shall  have  the  right  to  bear  arms 
in  defence  of  themselves  and  of  the  lawful  authority  of  the  State. 

Skc.  23.  No  preference  can  be  given  by  law  to  any  church, 
sect  or  mode  of  worshij). 

Skc.  24.  This  enunciation  of  rights  shall  not  be  construed 
to  impair  or  deny  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  I. 

F.JUND  ARIES. 

The  boundaries  of  the  State  of  Florida  shall  be  as  follows: 
Commencing  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Perdido  ;  from  thence 
up  the  middle  of  said  river  to  where  it  intersects  the  south 
boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Alabama  and  the  thirty-first  degree 
of  north  latitude ;  thence  due  east  to  the  Chattahoochee  river  ; 
thence  down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  its  confluence  with  the 
Flint  river;  from  thence  straight  to  the  head  of  the  St.  Mary's 
river;  thence  down  the  middle  of  said  river  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  :  thence  southeast wardly  along  the  coast  to  the  edge  of 
the  (rulf  Stream;  thence  south westwardly  along  the  edge  of  the 
(rulf  Stream,  and  Florida  reefs  to  and  including  the  Tortugas 
islands ;  thence  northeastwardly  to  a  point  three  leagues  from 
the  main  land;  thence  northwestwardly  three  leagues  from  the 
land  to  a  point  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Perdido  river;  thence  to 
the  place  of  beginning. 

ARTICLE  n. 

SKAT  OF  (lOVKRNMl'.X  1  . 

The  seat  of  government  shall  be  and  remain  permanent  at 
ilie  city  of  Tallahassee,  in  the  county  of  Leon,  until  otherwise 
located  by  the  majority  vote  of  the  people. 


APPENI)I.\.  409 

ARTICLE  III. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF   TOWERS. 

The  powers  of  the  government  of  the  State  of  Florida  shall 
be  divided  into  three  departments,  to  wit :  legislative,  executive, 
and  judicial  and  no  person  properly  belonging  to  one  of  the  de- 
partments shall  exercise  any  functions  appertaining  to  either  of 
the  others,  except  in  those  cases  expressly  i)rovided  for  by  this 
'Constitution. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

LEGISTATIVE   1  )KPARTMEN'l'. 

Sec.  I  The  legislative  authority  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in 
.-a  Senate  and  Assembly,  which  shall  be  designated  the  "Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Florida,"  and  the  sessions  thereof  shall  be 
held  at  the  seat  of  government  of  the  State. 

Sec.  2  The  sessions  ofthe  Legislature  shall  be  annual,  the  first 
sessions  on  the  second  Monday  of  June,  A.  D.  1868,  and  there- 
after on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  January, 
commencing  in  the  year  A.  D.  1869.  The  Governor  may  in 
the  interim  convene  the  same  in  extra  session  by  his  proclamation. 

Sec.  3.  The  members  of  the  Assembly  shall  be  chosen 
biennially,  those  of  the  first  Legislature  on  the  first  Monday, 
Tuesday  Vnd  Wednesday  of  May,  A.  D.  1868,  and  thereafter  on 
the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November  commenc- 
ing with  the  year  A.  D.  1870. 

Sec.  4.  Senators  shall  be  chosen  for  the  term  of  four  years, 
.at  the  same  time  and  place  as  members  of  the  Assembly  : 
Froinded,  That  the  Senators  elected  at  the  first  election  from 
the  senatorial  districts  designated  by  even  numbers  shall  vacate 
their  seats  at  the  expiration  of  two  years,  and  thereafter  all  Sen- 
ators shall  be  elected  for  the  term  of  four  years,  so  that  one-half 
of  the  whole  number  shall  be  elected  biennially. 

Sec  5.  Senators  and  members  ofthe  Assembly  shall  be  dulv 
qiialified  electors  in  the  respective  counties  and  districts  which 
they  represent. 

Sec.  6.  Each  house  shall  judge  of  the  ([ualifications,  elec- 
tions and  returns  of  its  own  members,  choose  its  own  officers, 
except  the  President  of  the  Senate,  determine  the  rules  of  its 
proceedings,  and  may  punish  its  members  for  disorderly  con- 
duct, and." with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  mem- 
bers present,  expel  a  member. 

Sec.  7.   Either  house,   during  the   session,    may  punish   by 


410 


AFPKM>IX. 


imprisonment  any  person  not  a  member  who  shall  have  been 
guilty  of  disorderly  or  contemptuous  conduct  in  its  presence,  but 
such'imprisonment  shall  not  extend  beyond  the  final  adjourn- 
r/ient  of  the  session. 

Sec.  8.  A  majority  of  each  house  shall  constitute  a  (piorum  to 
do  business,  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 
dav,  and  may  compel  the  presence  of  absent  members,  in  such 
manner  and  under  such  penalties  as  each   house  may   prescribe. 

Sec.  9.  Any  person  who  shall  be  convicted  of  embezzle- 
ment or  defalcation  of  the  funds  of  the  State,  or  of  havmg  given 
or  ofiered  a  bribe  to  secure  his  election  or  appointment  to  office, 
or  of  having  received  a  bribe  to  aid  in  the  procurement  of  office 
for  anv  other  person,  shall  be  disqualified  from  holding  any 
office  of  honor,  profit  or  trust  in  the  State  ;  and  the  Legislature 
.<ihall.  as  soon  as  practicable,  provide  by  law  for  the  punishment 
of  such  embezzlement,  defalcation,  or  bribery,  as  a  felony 

Sec.  10.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  own  pro- 
ceedings, which  shall  be  published,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the 
members  of  either  house  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of 
any  three  members  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Sec.  II.  The  doors  of  each  house  shall  be  kept  open  dur- 
ing its  session,  except  the  Senate  while  sitting  in  executive 
session,  and  neither  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  ad- 
journ for  more  than  three  days,  or  to  any  other  town  than  that 
in  which  they  may  be  holding  their  session. 

Sec.  12.  Any  bill  may  orginate  in  either  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature, and  alter  being  passed  in  one  house  may  be  amended  in 
the  other. 

Sec.  13.  The  enacting  clause  of  every  law  shall  be  as  fol- 
lows :  ''  The  people  of  the  State  of  Florida,  represented  in  Sen- 
ate and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  follow^s :" 

Sec  14.  Each  law  enacted  in  the  Legislature  shall  embrace 
but  one  subject  and  matter  properly  connected  therewith,  which 
subject  shall  be  briefly  expressed  in  the  title,  and  no  law  shall  be 
amended  or  revised  by  reference  to  its  title  only,  but  in  such 
case  the  Act  as  revised,  or  section  as  amended,  shall  be  re-en- 
acted and  iniblished  at  length. 

Sec.  15.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  by  sections  on  three  sev- 
eral days  in  each  house,  unless  in  case  of  emergency  two-thirds 
(i  the  house  where  such  bill  may  be  pending  shall  deem  it  ex- 
j'edient  to  dispense  with  this  rule;  but  the  reading  of  a  bill  by 
sections  on  its  final  {massage  shall  in  no  case  be  dispensed  with ; 
find  the  vote  on  the  final  jjassage  of  every  bill  or  joint  resolution 
shall  be  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  to  be  entered  on  the  journal  of 
each  house,  and  a  majority  of  the  members  present  in  each  house 
shall  be  necessary  to  pass  every  bill  or  joint  resolution  :  and  all 


APF^ENDIX.  411 

bills  or  joint  resolutions  so  passed  shall  be  signed  by  the  presid- 
ing officers  of  the  res})ective  houses,  and  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Senate  and  Clerk  of  the  Assembly. 

Sec.  16.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury  ex- 
cept by  appropriation  made  by  law,  and  accurate  statements  (jf 
the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  public  money  shall  be  at- 
tached to  and  published  with  the  laws  passed  at  every  regular 
session  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  17.  The  Legislature  shall  not  pass  special  or  local  laws 
in  any  of  the  following  enumerated  cases  :  That  is  to  say,  regu- 
lating the  jurisdiction  and  duties  of  any  class  of  officers,  or  for 
the  punishment  of  crime  or  misdemeanor;  regulating  the  prac- 
tices of  courts  of  justice;  providing  for  changing  venue  of  civil 
and  criminal  cases;  granting  divorces;  changing  the  names  of 
persons ;  vacating  roads,  town  plats,  streets,  alleys  and  public 
squares ;  summoning  and  impanelling  grand  and  petit  juries 
and  providing  for  their  compensation  :  regulating  county,  town- 
ship and  municipal  business;  regu'ating  the  election  of  county, 
township  and  municipal  officers ;  for  the  assessment  and 
collection  of  taxes  for  State,  countyand  municipal  purposes  ; 
providing  for  opening  and  conducting  elections  for  State, 
county  and  municipal  officers,  and  designating  the  places  of  vot- 
ing; providing  for  the  sale  of  real  estate  belonging  to  minors  or 
other  persons  laboring  under  legal  disabilities ;  regulating  the 
fees  of  officers. 

Sec.  18.  In  all  cases  enumerated  in  the  preceding  section, 
and  in  all  cases  where  general  law  can  be  made  applicable,  all 
laws  shall  be  general  and  of  uniform  operation  throughout  the 
State. 

Sec.  19.  Provision  may  be  made  by  general  law  for  bring- 
ing suit  against  the  State  as  to  all  liabilities  now  existing  or  here- 
after orignating. 

Sec.  20.   Lotteries  are  hereby  prohibited  in  this  State. 

Sec.  21.  The  Legislature  shall  establish  a  uniform  system  of 
county,  township  and  municipal  government. 

Sec.  22.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  by  general  law  for 
incorporating  such  municipal,  educational,  agricultural,  mechan- 
ical, mining  and  other  useful  companies  or  association  as  may 
be  deemed  necessary. 

Sec.  23.  No  person  who  is  not  a  qualified  elector  of  this 
State,  or  any  person  who  shall  have  been  convicted  of  bribery, 
forgery,  perjury,  larceny  or  other  high  crime,  unless  restored  to 
civil  rights,  shall  be  permitted  to  serve  on  juries. 

Sec.  24.  Laws  shall  be  passed  regulating  elections  and  pro- 
hibiting, under  adetfuate  penalties,  all  undue  influence  thereon 
from  power,  bribery,  tumult  or  other  improper  practice. 


412  API'KXIMX. 

Skc.  25.  Regular  sessions  of  the  Legislature  may  extend 
to  sixty  davs :  but  any  sj^ecial  session  convened  by  the  Governor 
shall  not  exceed  twenty  days. 

Sec.  26.  All  property,  both  real  and  personal,  of  the  wife 
owned  by  her  before  marriage  or  accjuired  afterward  by  gift,  de- 
vise, descent  or  purchase,  shall  be  her  separate  property  and  not 
liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband. 

Sec.  27.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  the  election  by 
the  people  or  appointment  by  the  Governor  of  all  State,  county 
or  municipal  officers  not  otherwise  provided  for  l)y  this  Constitu- 
tion, and  fix  by  law  their  duties  and  compensation. 

Sec.  28.  Every  bill  which  may  have  passed  the  Legislature 
shall,  before  becoming  a  law,  be  presented  10  the  Governor. 
If  he  approves  it  he  shall  sign  it;  but  it  not,  he  shall  return  it 
with  his  objections  to  the  house  in  which  it  originated,  which 
house  shall  cause  such  objections  to  be  entered  upon  its  journals 
and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such  reconsideration  it 
shall  pass  both  houses  by  a  two-thirds  vole  of  the  members  pres- 
ent, which  vote  shall  be  entered  upon  the  journal  of  each  house, 
it  shall  become  a  law.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  within 
five  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented 
to  the  Governor,  the  same  shall  be  a  law  in  like  manner  as  if  he 
had  signed  it.  If  the  Legislature  by  its  final  adjournment  pre- 
vent such  action,  such  bill  shall  be  a  law  unless  the  Governor 
within  ten  days  next  after  the  adjournment  shall  file  such  bill 
with  his  objection  thereto  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
who  shall  lay  the  same  before  the  Legislature  at  its  next  session, 
and  if  the  same  shall  receive  two-thirds  of  the  votes  present  it 
shall  become  a  law.' 

Skc.  29.  The  Assembly  shall  have  the  sole  i>ower  of  im- 
peachment ;  but  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  present 
shall  be  re([uired  to  impeach  any  officer,  and  all  impeachments 
shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate.  When  sitting  for  that  purpose  the 
Senators  shall  be  upon  oath  or  affirmation,  and  no  person  shall 
be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Sena- 
tors present.  The  Chief  Justice  shall  preside  at  all  trials  by  im- 
jjeachment,  except  in  the  trial  of  the  Chief  Justice,  when  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  shall  preside.  The  Governor,  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  members  of  the  Cabinet,  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  and  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Court,  shall  be  liable  to 
impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office ;  but  judgment 
in  such  cases  shall  extend  only  to  removal  from  office  and 
disqualification  to  hold  any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit 
under  the  State;  but  the  party  convicted  or  actiuitted 
shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial  and  punishment 
according  to  law.      All   other  officers  who  shall   have  been  ap- 


APPENDIX. 


413 


pointed  to  office  by  the  Governor,  and  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  Senate,  may  be  removed  from  office  upon  the  recommend- 
ation of  the  Governor  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  but  they  shall 
nevertheless  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial  and  punishment  accord- 
ing to  law  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office ;  all  other  civil  officers 
shall  be  tried  for  misdemeanors  in  office  in  such  manner  as  the 
Legislature  may  provide. 

Sec.  29.  Laws  making  appropriation  for  the  salaries  of  pub- 
lic officers  and  other  current  expenses  of  the  State  shall  contain 
provisions  on  no  other  subject. 

Sec.  30.  The  Legislature  shall  elect  United  States  Senators 
in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  by  this  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  V. 

EXECUTIVE     DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  supreme  executive  power  of  the  State  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Chief  Magistrate,  who  shall  be  styled  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Florida. 

Sec.  2.  The  Governor  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  elect- 
ors at  the  time  and  places  of  voting  for  the  members  of  the 
Legislature,  and  shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years  from  the  time 
of  his  installment :  Provided^  That  the  term  of  the  first  Governor 
elected  under  this  Constitution  shall  expire  at  the  opening  of  the 
regular  session  of  the  Legislature  of  A.  D.  1873,  ^nd  until  his 
successor  shall  be  qualified.  He  shall  take  the  oath  of  office 
prescribed  for  all  State  officers. 

Sec.  3.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Governor 
who  is  not  a  qualified  elector,  and  who  has  not  been  nine  years 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  three  years  of  the  State  of 
Florida,  next  preceding  the  time  of  his  election. 

Sec  4.  The  Governor  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
military  forces  of  the  State,  except  when  they  shall  be  called  into 
the  service  of  the  Ur)ited  States. 

Sec.  5.  He  shall  transact  all  executive  business  with  the 
-officers  of  the  Government,  civil  and  military,  and  may  require 
information  in  writing  from  the  officers  of  the  administrative  de- 
partment upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respect- 
ive offices. 

Sec.  6.   He  shall  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed. 

Sec.  7.  When  any  office,  from  any  cause,  shall  become  va- 
cant, and  no  mode  is  provided  by  this  Constitution  or  by  the 
laws  of  the  State  for  filling  such  vacancy,  the  Governor  shall 
"have  the  power  to  fill  such  vacancy  by  granting  a  commission 
which  shall  expire  at  the  next  election. 


414  APPENDIX. 

Sec.  S.  The  (rovernor  may,  on  extraordinary  ©ccasions, 
convene  the  Legislature  by  proclamation,  and  shall  state  to 
both  houses,  when  organized,  the  purpose  for  which  they  have 
been  convened,  and  the  Legislature  then  shall  transact  no  legis- 
lative business  except  that  for  which  they  are  specially  convened, 
or  such  other  legislative  business  as  the  Governor  may  call  to  the 
attention  of  the  Legislature  while  in  session,  except  by  the  unan- 
imous consent  of  both  houses. 

Sec  9.  He  shall  communicate  by  message  to  the  Legisla- 
ture at  each  regular  session  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  rec- 
ommend such  measures  as  he  may  deem  expedient. 

Skc.  10.  In  case  of  a  disagreement  between  the  two  houses 
with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  the  Governor  shall  have 
power  t  J  adjourn  the  Legislature  to  such  a  time  as  he  may  think 
proper,  provided  it  is  not  beyond  the  time  fixed  for  the  meeting 
of  the  next  Legislature, 

Sec.  II.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  suspend  the 
collection  of  fines  and  forfeitures,  and  grant  reprieves  for  a 
period  not  exceeding  sixty  days,  dating  from  the  time  of  convic- 
tion, for  all  ofTences  except  in  cases  of  impeachment.  Upon 
conviction  for  treason,  he  shall  have  power  to  suspend  the  execu- 
tion of  sentence  until  the  case  shall  be  reported  to  the  Legisla- 
ture at  its  next  session,  when  the  Legislature  shall  either  pardon, 
direct  the  execution  of^  the  sentence,  or  grant  a  further  reprieve; 
and  if  the  Legislature  shall  fail  or  refuse  to  make  final  disposi- 
tion of  such  case,  the  sentence  shall  be  enforced  at  such  time 
and  place  as  the  Governor  may  by  his  order  direct.  The  Gov- 
ernor shall  communicate  to  the  Legislature  at  the  beginning  of 
every  session  every  case  of  fine  or  forfeiture  remitted  or  reprieved, 
))ardon  or  commutation  granted,  stating  the  name  of  the  convict, 
the  crime  for  which  he  was  convicted,  the  sentence,  its  date, 
and  the  date  of  its  remission,  commutation,  pardon,  or  reprieve. 

Sec,  12.  The  Governor,  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
Attorney-General,  or  a  major  part  of  them,  of  whom  the  Gov- 
ernor shall  be  one,  may,  upon  such  conditions  and  with  such 
limitations  and  restrictions  as  they  may  deem  proper,  remit  fines 
and  forfeitures,  commute  punishments,  and  grant  pardons  after 
conviction  in  all  cases  except  treason  and  impeachment,  subject 
to  such  regulations  as  may  be  provided  by  law  relative  to  the 
manner  of  applying  for  pardons. 

Sec,  13.  The  grants  and  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name 
and  under  the  authority  of  the  State  of  Florida,  sealed  by  the 
great  seal  of  the  State,  signed  by  the  (Governor  and  countersigned 
by  the  Secretary  of  State, 

Sec,  14,  A  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  be  elected  at  the 
same  time  and  places  and  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Governor, 


APPKNDIX.  415 

whose  term  of  office  and  eligibility  shall  also  be  the  same.  He 
shall  be  the  Presi(fent  of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  only  a  casting- 
vote  therein.  If,  during  a  vacancy  of  the  office  of  Governor, 
the  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  be  impeached,  displaced,  resign, 
die  or  become  incapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  his  office,  or 
l)e  absent  from  the  State,  the  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Sen- 
ate shall  act  as  Governor  until  the  office  be  filled  or  the  disability 
cease. 

Sec.  15.  In  the  case  of  the  impeachment  of  the  Crovernor, 
or  his  removal  from  office,  death,  inability  to  discharge  his  offi- 
cial duties,  or  resignation,  the  power  and  duties  of  the  office 
shall  devolve  upon  the  Lieutenant  Governor  for  the  residue  of 
the  term,  or  until  the  disability  shall  cease :  but  the  Governor 
shall  not,  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislature,  be  out  of  the 
State  in  time  of  war. 

Sec.  16.  The  Governor  may  at  any  time  require  the  opinion 
of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
any  portion  of  this  Constitution,  or  upon  any  point  of  law,  and 
the  Supreme  Court  shall  render  such  opinion  in  writing. 

Sec.  17.  The  Governor  shall  be  assisted  by  a  cabinet  of  ad- 
ministrative officers,  consisting  of  a  Secretary  of  State,  Attorney 
General,  Comptroller,  Treasurer,  Surveyor  General,  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  Adjutant  General  and  Commis- 
sioner of  Immigration.  Such  officers  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
Governor  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  shall  hold  their  of- 
fices the  same  time  as  the  Governor,  or  until  their  successors 
shall  be  qualified. 

Sec.  18.  The  Governor  shall,  by  and  with  the  consent  of 
the  Senate,  appoint  all  commissioned  officers  of  the  State  militia. 

Sec.  19.  The  Governor  shall  appoint,  by  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  in  each  county  an  assessor  of  taxes  and  col- 
lector of  revenue,  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law,  and 
who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years  and  be  subject  to  re- 
moval upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Governor  and  consent  of 
the  Senate.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  in  each  county  a 
County  Treasurer,  County  Surveyor,  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  and  five  County  Commissioners,  each  of  whom  shall 
hold  his  office  for  two  years,  and  the  duties  of  each  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  Such  officers  shall  be  subject  to  removal  by  the 
Governor  when  in  his  judgment  the  public  welfare  will  be  ad- 
vanced thereby  :  Provided,  No  officer  shall  be  removed  except 
for  wilful  neglect  of  duty,  or  a  violation  of  the  criminal  laws  of 
the  State,  or  for  incompetency. 

Sec.  20.  The  Governor  and  cabinet  shall  constitute  a  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  State  institutions,  which  board  shall  have 


41 6  APPENDIX. 

supervision  of  all  matters  connected  therewith,  in   such  manner 
as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Skc.  21.  The  (Jovernor  shall  have  pow-er,  in  cases  of  insur- 
rection or  rebellion,  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  within 
the  State. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

jlDICIAI.     DEPARTMENT. 

Skchon  I.  The  judicial  po\ver  of  the  State  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Supreme  Court,  Circuit  Courts,  County  Courts  and  Justices 
of  the  Peace. 

Sf.c.  2.  The  style  of  all  process  shall  be  "The  State  of  Flor- 
-.da,"  and  all  prosecutions  shall  be  conducted  in  the  name  and 
by  the  authority  of  the  same. 

Sf.c.  3.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  a  Chief  Justice 
and  two  Asspciate .Justices,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  lor  life^ 
or  during  good  behavior.  They  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

Sec.  4.  The  majority  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  all  business.  The 
Supreme  Courr  shall  hold  three  terms  each  year  in  the  Supreme 
Court  room  at  the  seat  of  government.  Such  terms  shall  com- 
mence on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  January  and  April  re- 
spectively. 

Skc.  5.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  jurisdic- 
:ion  in  all  cases  in  equity,  also  in  all  cases  of  law  in  which  is 
involved  the  title  to,  or  right  of,  possession  of  real  estate,  or  the 
legality  of  any  tax,  impost,  assessment,  toll,  or  municipal  fine, 
or  in  which  the  demand  or  the  value  of  the  property  in  contro- 
versy exceeds  three  hundred  dollars,  also,  in  all  other  civil 
cases  not  included  in  the  general  subdivisions  of  law  and  equity; 
also,  in  all  rpiestions  of  law  alone;  in  all  cruninal  cases  in  which 
the  offences  charged  amount  to  felony.  The  Court  shall  have 
j.ower  to  issue  writs  of  mandamus,  certiorari  prohibition,  quo 
warranto,  habeas  corpus,  and  also  writs  necessary  or  proper  to 
the  complete  exercise  of  its  appellate  jurisdiction.  Each  of  the 
Justices  shall  have  the  power  to  issue  writs  of  habeas  corpus  to 
any  part  of  the  State  upon  petition  by,  or  on  behalf  of  any 
jjerson  held  in  actual  custody,  and  may  make  such  writs  return- 
able before  himself  or  the  Supreme  Court,  or  before  any  Circuit 
('ourt  in  the  State,  or  before  any  Judge  of  said  courts. 

Skc.  6.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  appoint  a  Clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  who  shall  have  his  office  at  the  cai)itol,  and 
shall  be  Librarian  of  the  Supreme  Court  library.  He  shall  hold 
his  office  until  his  successor  is  appointed  and  (pialified. 


APPENDIX.  417 

Sec.  7.  There  shall  be  seven  Circuit  Judges  appointed  by 
the  Governor  and  contirmed  by  the  Senate,  who  shall  hold  their 
office  for  eight  years.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  seven 
judicial  districts,  the  limits  of  which  are  defined  in  this  consti- 
tution, and  one  Judge  shall  be  assigned  to  each  circuit.  Such 
Judge  shall  hold  two  terms  of  his  court  in  each  county  within 
his  circuit,  each  year,  at  such  times  and  places  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  The  Chief  Justice  may,  in  his  discretion,  order 
a  temporary  exchange  of  circuits  by  the  respective  Judges,  or 
any  Judge,  to  hold  one  or  more  terms  in  any  other  circuit  than 
that  to  which  he  is  assigned.  The  Judge  shall  reside  in  the 
circuit  to  which  he  is  assigned. 

Sec.  8.  The  Circuit  Courts  in  the  several  judicial  circuits 
shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  of  equity,  also  in  all 
cases  at  law  which  involve  the  title  or  right  of  possession  to,  or 
the  possession  of,  or  the  boundaries  of  real  property;  of  the 
legality  of  any  tax,  impost,  assessment,  toll,  or  municipal  fine, 
and  in  all  other  cases  in  which  the  demand  or  the  value  of 
property  in  controversy  exceeds  three  hundred  dollars,  and  of 
the  action  of  forcible  entry  and  unlawful  detainer,  and  also  in  all 
criminal  cases  amounting  to  felony.  They  shall  have  final 
appellate  jmisdiction  in  all  civil  cases  arising  in  the  County 
Court  in  which  the  amount  in  controversy  is  one  hundred  dollars 
and  upwards,  and  in  all  cases  of  misdemeanor.  The  Circuit 
Courts  and  the  Judges  thereof  shall  have  power  to  issue  writs  of 
mandamus,  injunction,*  quo  warranto,  certiorari,  and  all  other 
writs  proper  and  necessary  to  the  complete  exercise  of  their 
jurisdicsion,  and  also  shall  have  power  to  issue  writs  of  habeas 
corpus  on  petition  by  or  on  behalf  of  any  person  held  in  actual 
custody  in  their  respective  circuits. 

Sec.  9.  There  shall  be  a  County  Court  organized  in  each 
county.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  a  County  Judge  for  each 
county,  who  shall  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate,,  and  such  Judge 
shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years  from  the  date  of  his  commis- 
sion, or  until  his  successor  is  appointed  and  quaUfied. 

Sec.  10.  The  County  Court  shall  be  a  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer. 

Sec.  II.  The  County  Court  shall  have  jurisdiction  of  all 
misdemeanors  and  all  civil  cases,  where  the  amount  in  contro- 
versy does  not  exceed  three  hundred  dollars;  but  in  no  case 
shall  the  County  Court  have  jurisdiction  when  the  title  or 
boundaries  of  real  estate  is  in  controversy,  or  where  the  juris- 
diction will  conflict  with  that  of  the  several  Courts  of  Records ; 
but  they  may  have  coextensive  jurisdiction  with  the  Circuit 
Courts  in  cases  of  forcible  entry  and  unlawful  detention  of  real 

26 


41 8  APPENDIX. 

estate,  subject  to  appeal  to  the  Circuit  Court.  The  County 
Court  shall  have  full  surrogate  or  probate  powers,  but  subject  to 
appeal.  Provision  shall  be  made  by  law  for  all  other  powers, 
duties,  and  responsibilities  of  the  County  Courts  and  Judges. 
There  shall  be  a  regular  trial  term  of  the  County  Courts  six 
times-  in  each  year,  at  such  times  and  places  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

^c.  12.  Grand  and  petit  jurors  shall  be  taken  from  the 
registered  voters  of  respective  counties. 

Sec.  13.  In  all  trials,  civil  and  criminal,  in  the  Circuit  and 
County  Courts,  the  evidence  shall  be  reduced  to  writing  by  the 
Clerk  of  the  Court  or  his  deputy  under  the  control  of  the  Court ; 
and  every  witness,  after  his  examination  shall  have  closed,  shall 
be  at  liberty  to  correct  the  evidence  he  has  given,  and  afterward 
shall  sign  the  same ;  such  evidence  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of 
the  Clerk  with  the  papers  in  the  case. 

Sec.  14.  All  pleas  shall  be  sworn  to  either  by  the  parties  or 
their  attorneys. 

Sec.  15.  The  (rovernor  shall  appoint  as  many  Justices  of 
the  Peace  as  he  may  deem  necessary.  Justices  of  the  Peace 
shall  have  criminal  jurisdiction  and  civil  jurisdiction  not  to 
exceed  fifty  dollars,  but  this  shall  not  extend  to  the  trial  of  any 
person  for  misdemeanor  or  crime.  The  duties  of  Justices  of  the 
Peace  shall  be  fixed  by  law.  Justices  of  the  Peace  shall  hold 
their  offices  during  good  behavior,  subject  to  removal  by  the 
Governor  at  his  own  discretion. 

Sec.  16.  The  Legislature  may  establish  Courts  for  munici- 
pal purposes  only,  in  incorporated  towns  and  cities.  All  laws 
for  the  organization  or  government  of  Municipal  Courts  shall  be 
general  in  their  provisions,  and  be  equally  applicable  to  the 
Municipal  Courts  of  all  incorporated  towns  and  cities. 

Sec.  17.  Any  civil  cause  may  be  tried  before  a  practicing 
attorney  as  referee  upon  the  application  of  the  parties,  and  an 
order  from  the  Court  in  whose  jurisdiction  the  case  may  be, 
authorizing  such  trial  and  appointing  such  referee.  Such  referee 
shall  keep  a  complete  record  of  the  case,  including  the  evidence 
taken,  and  such  record  shall  be  filed  with  the  papers  in  ttie  case 
in  the  office  of  the  Clerk,  and  such  cause  shall  be  subject  to  an 
appeal  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  18.  No  other  C'ourts  than  those  herein  specified  shall 
be  organized  in  this  State. 

Sec.  19.  The  Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  a  State  Attorney  in  each 
judicial  circuit,  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  He 
shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years  from  the  date  of  his  com  mis" 
sion,  and   until  his  successor  shall  be  api)ointed  and  qualified. 


APPENDIX.  419 

The  Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
shall  appoint  in  each  county  a  Sheriff  and  Clerk  of  the  Circuit 
Court,  who  shall  also  be  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  and  Board 
of  County  Commissioners,  Recorder,  and  ex-officio  Auditor  of 
the  county,  each  of  whom  shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years. 
Their  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  20.  A  constable  shall  be  elected  by  the  registered 
voters  in  each  county  for  every  two  hundred  (200)  registered 
voters;  but  each  county  shall  be  entitled  to  at  least  two  con- 
stables ;  and  no  county  shall  have  more  than  twelve  constables. 
They  shall  perform  such  duties  and  under  such  instructions  as 
shall  be  prescribed  iSy  law. 

Sec.  21.  Attorneys-at-law,  who  have  been  admitted  to 
practice  in  any  Court  of  Record  in  any  State  of  the  Union,  or 
to  any  United  States  Court,  shall  be  admitted  to  practice  in  any 
Court  of  this  State  on  producing  evidence  of  having  been  so 
admitted. 

ARTICLE   Vn. 

ADMINISTRATIVE     DEPARTMEN  T. 

Section  i.  There  shall  be  a  cabinet  of  administrative 
officers,  consisting  of  a  Secretary  of  State,  Attorney-General,^ 
Comptroller,  Treasurer.  Surveyor-General,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  Adjutant-General,  and  Commissioner  of  Im- 
migration, who  shall  assist  the  Governor  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties. 

Sec.  2.  The  Secretary  of  State  shall  keep  the  records  ot 
official  acts  of  the  Legislature  and  executive  department  of  the 
government,  and  shall,  when  required,  lay  the  same  and  all 
matters  relative  thereto  before  either  branch  of  the  Legislature, 
and  shall  be  the  custodian  of  the  great  seal  of  the  State. 

Sec.  3.  The  Attorney-General  shall  be  a  legal  adviser  of 
the  Governor  and  of  each  of  the  Cabinet  officers,  and  shall  per- 
form such  other  legal  duties  as  the  Governor  may  direct,  or  as 
may  be  provided  by  law.  He  shall  be  reporter  for  the  Supreme 
Court. 

Sec.  4.  The  Treasurer  shall  receive  and  keep  all  funds, 
bonds  or  other  securities  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by 
law,  and  shall  disburse  no  funds,  bonds  or  other  securieties  ex- 
cept upon  the  order  of  the  Comptroller,  countersigned  by  the 
Governor,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  5.   The  duties  of  the  Comptroller  shall  be  prescribed  by 

law. 

Sec.  6.   The  Survevor-General  shall  have  the  administrative 


420 


APPENDIX. 


s,  jpervision  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  public  lands,  under 
such  regulations  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  7.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  shall  have 
the  administrative  supervision  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  public 
instruction;  the  supervision  of  buildings  devoted  to  educational 
purposes,  and  the  libraries  belonging  to  the  university  and  com- 
mon schools.  He  shall  organize  a  historical  bureau  for  the  pur- 
poses of  accumulating  such  matter  and  information  as  may  be 
necessary  for  compiling  and  perfecting  the  history  of  the  State. 
He  shall'  also  establish  a  cabinet  of  minerals  and  other  natural 
productions. 

Sec.  S.  The  Adjutant-General  shall,  under  the  orders  of  the 
Governor,  have  the  administrative  supervision  of  the  Military 
Department  and  the  supervision  of  the  State  prison,  and  of  the 
quarantine  of  the  coast,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by 
law. 

Sec.  9.  The  Commissioner  of  Immigration  shall  organize  a 
Bureau  of  Immigration  for  the  purposes  of  furnishing  informa- 
lion,  and  for  the  encouragement  of  immigration.  The  office  of 
Commissioner  of  Immigration  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  15  years 
from  the  ratification  of  this  Constitution,  but  the  Legislature 
shall  have  the  power  to  continue  it  by  law. 

Sec.  10.  Each  officer  of  the  Cabinet  shall  make  a  full  re- 
port of  his  official  acts,  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures,  of  his 
office,  and  of  the  requirements  of  the  same,  to  the  Governor  at 
the  beginning  of  each  regular  session  of  the  Legislature,  or  when- 
ever the  Governor  shall  require  it.  Such  reports  shall  be  laid 
before  the  Legislature  by  the  Governor,  at  the  beginning  of  each 
regular  session  thereof.  Either  House  of  the  Legislature  may, 
at  any  time,  call  upon  any  Cabinet  officer  for  any  information 
required  by  it. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

EDUCATION. 

Section  i.  It  is  the  paramoimt  duty  of  the  State  to  make 
ample  provision  for  the  education  of  all  the  children  residing 
within  its  borders,  without  distinction  or  preference. 

Sec.  2.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  a  uniform  system  of 
common  schools,  and  a  university,  and  shall  provide  for  the 
liberal  maintenance  of  the  same.  Instruction  in  them  shall  be 
free. 

Sec.  3.  There  shall  be  a  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, whose  term  of  office  shall  be  four  years,  and  until  the  ap- 
pointment and  qualification  of  his  successor.     He  shall   have 


APPENDIX.  421 


general  supervision    of    the  educational   interests  of  the  State. 
His  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  4.  The  common  school  fund,  the  mterest  of  which 
shall  be  exclusively  applied  to  the  support  and  maintenance  of 
common  schools,  and  purchase  of  suitable  libraries  and  apparatus 
therefor,  shall  be  derived  from  the  following  sources:  the  pro- 
ceeds of  all  lands  that  have  been  or  may  hereafter  be  granted  to 
the  State  by  the  United  States  for  educational  purposes;  dona- 
tions  by  individuals  for  educational  purposes;  appropriations  by 
the  State;  the  proceeds  of  lands  or  other  property  which  may 
accrue  to  the  State  by  escheat  or  forfeiture;  the  proceeds  of  all 
property  granted  to  the  State,  when  the  purpose  of  such  grant 
shall  not  be  specified;  all  moneys  which  may  be  paid  as  an  ex- 
emption from  military  duty;  all  fines  collected  under  the  penal 
laws  of  this  State;  such  portion  of  the  per  capita  tax  as  may  be 
prescribed  bv  law  for  educational  purposes;  25  per  centum  of  the 
sales  of  public  lands  which  are  now  or  which  hereafter  may  be 
owned  by  the  State.  .  ,      ■,  ,. 

Sec.  5.  A  special  tax  of  not  less  than  one  mill  on  thedoliar 
of  all  taxable  property  in  the  State,  in  addition  to  the  other 
means  provided,  shall  be  levied  and  apportioned  annually  tor 
the  support  and  maintenance  of  common  schools. 

Sec.  6.  The  principal  of  the  common  school  fund  shall  re- 
main sacred  and  inviolate.  .  . 

Sec.  7.  Provision  shall  be  made  by  law  for  the  distribution 
of  the  common  school  fund,  among  the  several  counties  of  the 
.State,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children  residing  therein, 
between  the  ages  of  4  and  21  years. 

Sec.  8.  Each  county  shall  be  required  to  raise  annually  by 
tax,  for  the  support  of  common  schools  therein,  a  sum  not  less 
than  one-half  of  the  amount  apportioned  to  eadi  county  for  that 
year  from  the  income  of  the  common  school  fund.  Any  school 
district  neglecting  to  establish  and  maintain  for  at  least  three 
months  in  each  vear  such  school  or  schools  as  may  be  provided 
by  law  for  such  district,  shall  forfeit  its  portion  of  the  common 
school  fund  during  such  neglect. 

Sec.  9.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Secretary 
of  State,  and  Attorney-General  shall  constitute  a  body  corporate 
to  be  known  as  the  Board  of  Education  of  Florida.  The  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction  shall  be  the  President  thereof. 
The  duties  of  the  Board  of  Education  shall  be  prescribed  by  tl:e 
Legislature. 


42  2  ArrENDix. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Section  i.  A  homestead,  to  the  extent  of  1 60  acres  of  land, 
or  thehalf  of  one  acre,  within  the  Hmits  of  any  incorporated  city 
or  town,  owned  by  the  head  of  a  family  residing  in  this  State, 
together  with  $1,000  worth  of  personal  property,  and  the  im- 
provements on  the  real  estate,  shall  be  exempted  from  forced 
sale  under  any  process  of  law,  and  the  real  estate  shall  not  be 
alienable  without  the  joint  consent  of  husband  and  wife,  when 
that  relation  exists.  But  no  property  shall  be  exempt  from  sale 
for  taxes,  or  for  the  payment  of  obligations  contracted  for  the 
purchase  of  said  premises,  or  for  the  action  of  improvements 
thereon,  or  for  house,  field  or  other  labor  performed  on  the 
same.  The  exemption  herein  provided  for  in  a  city  or  town 
shall  not  extend  to  more  improvements  or  buildings  than  the 
residence  and  business  house  of  the  owner. 

Sec.  2.  In  addition  to  the  exemption  provided  for  in  the 
first  section  of  this  article,  there  shall  be  and  remain  exempt 
from  sale,  by  any  legal  process  in  the  State,  to  the  head  of  a 
r'amily  residing  in  this  State,  such  property  as  he  or  she  may 
•-elect,  to  the  amount  of  $1,000;  said  exemption  in  this  section 
^hall  only  prevent  the  sale  of  property  in  cases  where  the  debt 
was  contracted,  liability  incurred,  or  judgment  obtained  before 
the  loth  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1865.  Nothing  herein  contained 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  exempt  any  property  from  sale  for 
payment  of  the  jnirchase  money  of  the  same,  or  for  the  payment 
of  taxes  or  labor. 

Sec.  3.  The  exemption  provided  for  in  sections  one  and 
two  of  this  article  shall  accrue  to  the  heirs  of  the  party  having 
enjoyed  or  taken  the  benefit  of  such  exemption,  and  the  ex- 
emption provided  for  in  section  one  of  this  article  shall  apply  to 
hU  debts,  except  as  specified  in  said  section,  no  matter  when  or 
^.vhere  the  debt  was  contracted  or  liability  incurred. 

ARTICLE  X. 

PUHLIC  INSTITUTIONS. 

Skci'ion  I.  Institutions  for  the  benefit  of  the  insme,  blind 
r.nd  deaf,  and  such  other  benevolent  institutions  as  the  public 
^•ood  may  require,  shall  be  fostered  and  supported  by  the  State, 
Mibject  to  such  regulations  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

Sec.  2.  A  State  prison  shall  be  established  and  mamtained 
in  such  manner  as  may  be  fixed  by  law.  Provisions  may  be 
made  by  law  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  house 


APPENDIX. 


423 


of  refuge  for  juvenile  offenders,  and  the  Legislature  shall 
have  power  to  establish  a  home  and  workhouse  for  common  va- 
grants. 

Sec.  3.  The  respective  counties  of  the  State  shall  provide 
in  the  manner  fixed  by  law  for  those  of  the  inhabitants  who  by 
reason  of  age,  infirmity  or  misfortunes,  may  have  claims  upon 
the  aid  and  sympathy  of  society. 

ARTICLE  XL 

MILITIA. 

Section  i.  All  able  bodied  male  inhabitants  of  this  State  be- 
tween the  ages  of  18  and  45  years,  who  are  citizens  of  the  L'nited 
States,  or  have  declared  their  intentions  to  become  citizens 
thereof,  shall  constitute  the  militia  of  the  State,  but  no  male 
citizen,  of  whatever  religious  creed  or  opinion,  shall  be  exempt 
from  military  duty,  except  upon  such  conditions  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

Sec.  2.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  by  law  for  organiziEg 
and  disciplining  the  militia  of  the  State  for  the'encouragement  of 
volunteer  corps,  the  safe  keeping  of  the  public  arms,  and  for  a 
guard  for  the  State  prison. 

Sec.  3.  The  Adjutant-General  shall  have  the  grade  of  Major-. 
General.  The  Governor,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Sen- 
ate, shall  appoint  two  Major-Generals  and  four  Brigadier  Gen- 
erals of  militia.  They  shall  take  rank  according  to  date  of 
their  commissions.  The  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  State  militia, 
when  uniformed,  shall  wear  the  uniform  prescribed  for  the  United 
States  army. 

Sec.  4.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  call  out  the  mil- 
itia  to  preserve  the  public  peace,  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  State, 
and  to  suppress  insurrection  or  repel  invasion. 

ARTICLE    XII. 

TAXATION  AND  FINANCE. 

Section  i.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  a  uniform  and 
equal  rate  of  taxation,  and  shall  prescribe  such  regulations  as 
shall  secure  a  just  valuation  of  all  property,  both  real  and  pe^-- 
sonal,  excepting  such  property  as  may  be  exempted  by  law  for 
municipal,  educational,  literary,  scientific,  religious  or  charitable 
purposes. 

Sec.  2.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  raising  revenue 
sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  State  for  each  fiscal  year, 


424 


APPENDIX. 


and  also  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  the  principal  and  interest  of  the 
existing  indebtedness  of  the  State. 

Sec.  3.   No  tax  shall  be  levied,  except  in  pursuance  of  law. 

Sec.  4.  No  raoneys  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  except 
in  pursuance  of  appropriations  made  by  law. 

Sec.  5.  An  accurate  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures of  the  public  moneys  shall  be  published  with  the  laws  of 
each  regular  session  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  6.  The  Legislature  shall  authorize  the  several  counties 
and  incorporated  towns  in  the  State  to  impose  taxes  for  county 
and  corporation  purposes,  and  for  no  other  purpose,  and  all 
property  shall  be  taxed  upon  the  principle  established  for  State 
taxation.  The  Legislature  may  also  provide  for  levying  a  special 
capitation  tax  and  tax  on  licenses.  But  the  capitation  tax  shall 
not  exceed  $1  per  annum  for  all  purposes,  either  for  State, 
county  or  municipal  taxes. 

Sec.  7.  The  Legislature  shall  have  power  to  provide  for 
issuing  State  bonds  bearing  interest,  for  securmg  the  debt  of  the 
State,  and  for  the  erection  of  State  buildings,  support  of  State 
institutions  and  perfecting  public  works. 

Sec.  8.  No  tax  shall  be  levied  upon  persons  for  the  benefit 
of  any  chartered  company  of  the  State,  or  for  payingjthe  interest 
on  any  bonds  issued  by  said  chartered  companies,  or  by  coun- 
ties, or  by  corporations,  for  the  above  mentioned  i)urposes. 

ARTICLE  XIIL 

CENSUS  AND  APPOINTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  Legislature  shall  in  the  year  1875,  and 
every  tenth  year  thereafter,  cause  an  enumeration  to  be  made  of 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  and  they  shall  then  proceed  to  ap- 
portion the  representation  among  the  different  counties,  giving  to 
each  county  one  reprepresentative  at  large,  and  one  additional  to 
every  1,000  registered  voters  therein,  but  no  county  shall  be  en- 
titled to  more  than  four  representatives. 

Sec.  2.  The  Legislature  shall,  also,  after  every  such  enu- 
meration, proceed  to  fix  by  law  the  number  of  Senators  which 
shall  constitute  the  Senate  of  Florida,  and  which  shall  never  be 
less  than  one-fourth,  nor  more  than  one-half  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  the  Assembly.  When  any  Senatorial  district  shall  be 
composed  of  two  or  more  counties,  the  counties  of  which  such 
district  consists  >hall  not  be  entirely  separated  by  any  county 
l)elonging  to  another  district,  and  all  counties  shall  remain  as  now 
organized  unless  changed  by  a  two-tliirds  \ote  of  both  houses  of 
the  Leirislature. 


APPENDIX.  425 

ARTFCLE  XIV. 

SUFFRAGE  AND  KLICIKUATY. 

Section  i.  Every  male  person  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
3'ears  and  upwards,  of  whatever  race,  color,  nationality  or  previ- 
ous condition,  or  who  shall  at  the  time  of  offering  to  vote  be  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  have  declared  his  in- 
tentions to  become  such  in  conformity  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  have  resided  and  had  his  habitation,  domi- 
cile, home  and  place  of  permanent  abode  in  Florida  for  one 
year,  and  in  the  county  for  six  months,  next  preceding  the  elec- 
tion at  which  he  shall  offer  to  vote,  shall  be  deemed  a  qualified 
elector  at  ail  elections  under  this  constitution.  Every  elector 
shall,  at  the  time  of  his  registration,  take  and  subscribe  to   the 

following  oath  :   I, ,  do  solemnly   swear  that   I   will 

support,  protect  and  defena  the  Constitution  and  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  the 
State  of  Florida,  against  all  enemies,  foreign  or  domestic ;  that  I 
will  bear  true  faith,  loyalty  and  allegiance  to  the  same,  any  ordi- 
nances or  resolutions  of  any  State  Convention  or  Legislature 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding :  so  help  me  God. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  under  guardianship,  non  compos  mentis 
or  insane,  shall  be  qualified  to  vote  at  any  election,  nor  shall  any 
person  convicted  of  felony  be  qualified  to  vote  at  any  election 
unless  restored  to  civil  rights. 

Sec.  3.  At  any'  election  at  which  a  citizen  or  subject  of  any 
foreign  country  shall  offer  to  vote,  under  the  provisions  of  this 
Constitution,  he  shall  present  to  the  persons  lawfully  authorized 
to  conduct  and  supervise  such  election  a  duly  sealed  and  certi- 
fied copy  of  his  declaration  of  intention  ;  otherwise  he  shall  not 
be  allowed  to  vote;  and  any  naturalized  citizen  offering  to  vote 
shall  produce  before  said  persons  lawfully  authorized  to  conduct 
and  supervise  the  election,  his  certificate  of  naturalization,  or  a 
duly  sealed  and  certified  copy  thereof;  otherwise  he  shall  not  be 
permitted  to  vote. 

Sec.  4.  The  Legislature  shall  have  power  and  shall  enact 
^he  necessary  laws  to  exclude  from  every  office  of  honor,  power, 
trust  or  profit,  civil  or  military,  within  the  State,  and  from  the 
right  of  suffrage,  all  persons  convicted  of  bribery,  perjury,  lar- 
ceny, or  of  infamous  crime,  or  who  shall  make  or  send  or  accept 
a  challenge  to  fight,  or  who  shall  be  a  second  to  either  party,  or 
be  the  bearer  of  such  challenge  or  acceptance :  but  the  legal  dis- 
ability shall  not  accrue  until  after  trial  and  conviction  by  due 
form  of  law. 

Sec.  5.    In  all  elections  by  the  l,egislature  the  vote  shall  be 


426  APPKNDIX. 

viva  voce,  and  in  all  elections  by  the  peo})le  the  vote  shall  be  b>- 
ballot. 

Sec.  6.  The  Legislature  at  its  first  session  after  the  ratifica- 
tion of  this  Constitution  shall,  by  law,  provide  for  the  registra- 
tion by  the  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  each  county  of  all  the 
legally  qualified  voters  in  such  county,  and  for  the  returns  of 
elections  :  and  shall  also  provide  that  after  the  completion,  from 
lime  to  time,  of  such  registration,  no  person  not  duly  registered. 
according  to  law  shall  be  allowed  to  vote. 

Sec.  7.  The  Legislature  shall  enact  laws  requiring  educa- 
tional (lualifications  for  electors  after  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eighty,  but  no  such  laws  shall  be  made  applicable- 
:o  any  elector  who'  may  have  registered  or  voted  at  any  election, 
previous  thereto. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

SCHEDULE. 

Section  i.  That  all  ordinances  and  resolutions  heretofore- 
passed  bv  any  convention  of  the  people,  and  all  Acts  and  reso- 
lutions of  the  Legislature  conflicting  or  inconsistent  with  the- 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  statutes  thereof,  and 
with  this  Constitution,  and  in  derogation  of  the  existence  or  po- 
sition of  the  State  as  one  of  the  States  of  the  United  States  o5 
America,  are  hereby  declared  null  and  void,  and  of  no  effect. 

Sec.  2.  That  all  Acts  and  resolutions  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  all  official  Acts  of  the  civil  officers  of  the  State,  not  in- 
consistent with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  and  statutes  of 
the  United  States,  or  with  this  Constitution,  or  with  any  ordi- 
nance or  resolution  adopted  by  this  convention,  and  which  have 
not  been  and  are  not  by  this  Constitution  annulled,  are  in  force, 
and  shall  be  considered  and  esteemed  as  the  laws  of  the  State 
until  such  Acts  or  resolutions  shall  be  repealed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  or  this  convention. 

Sec.  3.  All  laws  of  the  State  passed  by  the  so-called  Gen- 
eral Assembly  since  the  10th  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1861,  not 
conflicting  with  the  word  or  spirit  of  the  Constitution  and  laws- 
of  the  United  States,  or  with  this  Constitution,  shall  be  valid. 
All  writs,  acts,  proceedings,  judgments  and  decrees  of  the  so- 
called  courts  of  the  State,  where  actual  service  was  made  on  the- 
defendant :  all  executions  and  sales  made  thereunder,  and  all 
acts,  orders  and  proceedings  of  the  judges  of  Probate,  and  ot 
executors,  administrators,  guardians  and  trustees,  provided  the\ 
were  in  conformity  with  the  laws  then  in  force,  and  did  not  con- 
flict with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  and  this^ 


APPENDIX.  427 

Constitution,  shall  be  valid.  The  sales  of  the  property  or  effects 
of  deceased  persons  shall  not  prevent  the  widow  from  claiming 
said  property  in  kind,  in  whosesoever  hands  the  same  may  be 
found,  when  the  sale  had  not  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  pay- 
ing the  debts  of  the  deceased,  and  where  other  than  lawful 
money  of  the  United  States  was  obtained  for  said  property. 
Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  make  any 
one  who,  as  an  officer  of  any  court,  or  who  acted  under  the  au- 
thority of  any  court,  individually  liable,  provided  they  acted 
irtrictly  in  accordance  with  what  was  then  considered  the  law  of 
the  State,  and  not  conflicting  with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States.  All  fines,  penalties,  forfeitures,  obligations 
and  escheats  heretofore  accruing  to  the  State  of  Florida  shall  con- 
tinue to  accrue  to  the  use  of  the  State.  All  recognizances  here- 
tofore taken  shall  remain  valid,  and  all  bonds  executed  to  the 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Florida,  either  before  or  since  the  loth 
day  of  January,  A.  D.  t86i,  or  to  any  other  officer  of  the  State 
in  his  official  capacity,  shall  be  of  full  force  and  virtue  for  the 
uses  therein  respectively  expressed,  and  may  be  sued  for  and  re- 
(overed  accordingly,  unless  they  were  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  or  to  this  Constitution,  or  to  any  ordinance  or  res- 
olution adopted  by  the  convention  ;  also  all  criminal  prosecu- 
tions which  have  arisen  may  be  prosecuted  to  judgment  and  ex- 
ecution in  the  name  of  the  State.  All  actions  at  law  or  suits  in 
chancery,  or  any  proceedings  pending  in  the  courts  of  this  State 
either  prior  to  or  subsequent  to  the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D. 
1 86 1,  shall  continue  in  all  respects  valid,  and  may  be  prosecuted 
to  judgment  and  decree.  All  judgments  and  decrees  rendered 
in  civil  causes  in  any  of  the  courts  of  the  State  during  the  period 
of  time  above  specified  are  hereby  declared  of  full  force,  validity 
and  effect :  Provided^  That  unless  otherwise  provided  in  this 
Constitution  the  statute  of  limitation  shall  not  be  pleaded  upon 
any  claim  in  the  hands  of  any  person  for  the  period  of  time  be- 
tween the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1861,  and  the  25th  day 
of  October,  A.  D.  1865,  whether  proceedings  of  law  had  been 
commenced  before  the  25th  day  of  October,  1865,  or  not :  Pro- 
vided, further,  That  all  claims  of  widows,  minors  and  decedents 
which  were  not  barred  by  the  statutes  of  this  State  on  the  loth 
day  of  January,  A.  D.  1861,  shall  be  considered  good  and  valid 
for  the  period  of  tAvo  years  from  the  ratification  of  this  Constitu- 
tion. 

Sec.  4.  That  State  treasury  notes,  all  bonds  issued,  and  all 
other  liabilities  contracted  by  the  State  of  Florida  or  any  county 
or  city  thereof,  on  and  after  the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  D. 
1 86 1,  and  before  the  25th  day  of  October,  A.  I).  1865,  except 
such  liabilities  as  may  be  due  to  the  seminary  or  school  fund,  be 


428  APPKXDIX. 

and  are  declared  null  and  void,  and  the  Legislature  shall  have 
no  power  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  same  or  any  part 
thereof;  hut  this  shall  not  be  construed  so  as  to  invalidate  any 
authorized  liabilities  of  the  State,  contracted  prior  to  the  loth 
day  of  January,  A.  D.  1861,  or  subsequent  to  the  25th  day  of 
October,  A.  D.    1865. 

Sec.  5.  No  money  shall  ever  be  appropriated  by  this  State 
to  reimburse  purchasers  of  United  States  land  who. purchased  the 
same  ot  the  State  of  Florida. 

Sec.  6.  AH  proceedings,  decisions  or  actions  accomplished 
by  civil  or  military  officers  acting  under  authority  of  the  United 
States  subsequent  to  the  10th  day  of  January,  1861,  and  prior 
to  the  final  restoration  of  the  State  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  are  hereby  declared  valid,  and  shall  not  be  sub- 
ject to  adjudication  in  the  courts  of  this  State ;  nor  shall  any 
person  acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  soldier  or  officer  of  the  United 
States,  civil  or  military,  be  subject  to  arrest  for  any  act  per- 
formed by  him,  pursuant  to  authorized  instructions  from  his  su- 
l)erior  officers  during  the  period  of  time  above  designated. 

Sec.  7.  That  in  all  cases  where  judgments  have  been  ob- 
tained against  citizens  of  the  State  after  the  tenth  day  of  January, 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one,  previous  to  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  October,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  where  actual 
service  was  not  made  on  the  person  of  any  defendant,  such  de- 
fendant not  served  with  process  may  appear  in  court  within  one 
year  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  and  make  oath  that 
injustice  has  been  done  and  that  he  or  she  has  a  good  and  valid 
defence,  stating  the  defence,  and  upon  making  such  oath,  and 
filing  said  defence,  the  proceedings  on  the  judgment  shall  cease 
until  the  defenc«  is  heard. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Sectiox  I.  Any  person  debarred  from  holding  office  in  the 
State  of  Florida  by  the  third  section  of  the  fourteenth  article  of 
the  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Ll'nited 
States,  which  is  as  follows:  *'No  person  shall  be  Senator  or 
representative  in  Congress,  or  elector  of  President,  or  Vice-Presi- 
dent, or  hold  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United 
States,  or  under  any  State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oatii 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States, 
or  as  a  member  of  any  State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or 
judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
I'nited  States,  shall  have  engaged   in   insurrection   or  rebellion 


APPENDIX.  429 

against  the  same  or  given  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemies 
thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each 
house,  remove  such  disabiUty,"  is  hereby  debarred  from  holding 
office  in  this  State:  Provided,  That  whenever  sucji  disability 
from  holding  office  shall  be  removed  from  any  person  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  removal  of  such  disability 
shall  also  apply  to  this  State,  and  such  person  shall  be  restored 
in  all  respects  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  as  herein  provided  for 
electors. 

Sec.  2.  Any  person  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  by  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  or  any  person  elected  by 
the  people,  or  appointed  to  office  by  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
or  by  any  officer  of  the  State,  under  the  provison  of  the  Consti- 
tution adopted  by  the  convention  of  the  people,  con- 
vened on  the  25th  day  of  October,  1865,  shall  not  be  empowered 
to  hold  such  office  after  the  same  position  or  office  shall  have 
been  filled  by  election  or  appointment  under  the  provisions  of 
this  Constitution :  Provided,  That  all  officers  holding  office 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  adopted  the  25th  day 
of  October,  A.  D.  1865,  and  not  provided  for  in  this  Constitu- 
tion, shall  continue  to  hold  their  respective  offices,  and  discharge 
the  duties  thereof,  until  the  Governor  shall  by  his  proclamation, 
declare  such  offices  vacant. 

Sec.  3.  The  several  judicial  circuits  of  the  Circuit  Courts 
shall  be  as  follows  :  The  first  judicial  circuit  shall  be  composed 
of  the  counties  of  Escambia,  Santa  Rosa,  Walton,  Holmes, 
Washington  and  Jackson ;  the  second  judicial  circuit  shall  be 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Gadsden,  Liberty,  Calhoun,  Frank- 
lin, Wakulla,  and  Jefferson ;  the  third  judicial  circuit  shall  .be 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Madison,  Taylor,  Lafayetce,  Ham- 
ilton, Suwannee  and  Columbia ;  the  fourth  judicial  circuit  shall 
be  composed  of  the  counties  of  Nassau,  Duval,  Baker,  Bradford, 
Clay  and  St.  John's;  the  fifth  judicial  circuit  shall  be  composed 
of  the  counties  of  Putnam,  Alachua,  Levy,  Marion  and  Sumter; 
the  sixth  judicial  circuit  shall  be  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Hernando,  Hillsborough,  Manatee,  Polk  and  Monroe;  the 
seventh  judicial  circuit  shall  be  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Volusia,  Brevard,  Orange  and  Dade.         , 

Sec.  4.  The  salary  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  shall  be 
five  thousand  dollars  per  annum  ;  that  of  the  Chief  Justice  shall 
be  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars ;  that  of  each  Associate 
Justice  shall  be  four  thousand  dollars  ;  that  of  each  Judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court  shall  be  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars ;  that 
of  the  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  be  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars ;  that  of  each  cabinet  officer  shall  be  three  thousand 
dollars ;  the  pay  of  the  members   of  the   Senate  and  House  of 


43° 


APPENDIX 


Representatives  shall  be  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  and  in 
addition  thereto  ten  cents  per  mile  for  each  mile  traveled  from 
their  respective  places  of  residence  to  the  capital,  and  the  same 
to  return  ;  ln4  such  distances  shall  be  estimated  by  the  shortest 
general  thoroughfare.  All  other  officers  of  the  State  shall  be 
])aid  by  fees,  or  per  diem,  fixed  by  law. 

Sf,c.  5.  The  Legislature  shall  appropriate  two  thousand 
dollars  each  year  for  the  purchase  of  such  books  for  the  Supreme 
Court  library  as  the  said  court  shall  direct. 

Skc.  6.  The  salary  of  each  officer  shall  be  payable  quarterly, 
upon  his  own  requisition. 

Sec.  7.  The  tribe  of  Indians  located  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  State  and  known  as  the  Seminole  Indians,  shall  be  entitled 
to  one  member  in  each  house  of  the  Legislature.  Such  member 
shall  have  all  the  rights,  privileges  and  remuneration  as  other 
members  of  the  Legislature.  Such  members  shall  be  elected  by 
the  members  of  their  tribe,  in  the  manner  prescribed  for  all  elec- 
tions by  this  Constitution.  The  tribe  shall  be  represented  only 
by  a  member  of  the  same,  and  in  no  case  by  a  white  man: 
Provided.  That  the  representative  of  the  Seminole  Indians  shall 
not  be  a  bar  to  the  representation  of  any  county  by  the  citizens 
thereof. 

Sec.  8.  The  Legislature  may  at  any  time  mipose  such  tax  on 
the  Indians  as  it  may  deem  proper ;  and  such  imposition  of  tax  shall 
constitute  the  Indians  citizens,  and  they  shall  thenceforward  be 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  other  citizens,  and  thereafter  be 
barred  of  special  representation. 

Sec.  9.  In  addition  to  other  crimes  and  misdemeanors  for 
which  an  officer  may  be  impeached  and  tried,  shall  be  included 
drukenness  and  other  dissipation,  incompetency,  malfeasance  in 
office,  gambling,  or  any  conduct  detrimental  to  good  morals, 
shall  be  considered  sufficient  cause  for  impeachment  and  convic- 
tion. Any  officer  when  impeached  by  the  Assembly,  shall  be 
deemed  under  arrest,  and  shall  be  disqualified  from  performing 
any  of  the  duties  of  his  office  until  acquittal  by  the  Senate.  But 
any  officer  so  impeached  and  in  arrest  may  demand  his  trial  by 
the  Senate  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  his  impeachment. 

Sec.  10.  The  following  shall  be  the  oath  of  office  for  each 
officer  in  the  State,  including  members  of  the  Legislature:  'T 
do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support,  protect,  and  defend  the 
Constitution  and  government  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
State  of  Florida,  against  all  enemies,  domestic  or  foreign,  and 
that  I  will  bear  true  faith,  loyalty,  and  allegiance  to  the  same,  and 
that  I  am  entitled  to  hold  office  under  this  Constitution.  ^  Hiat 
I  will  well  and  faithfully  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  oftice  of 
,  on  which  I  am  about  to  enter :  so  help  me  God.'' 


APPKNDIX.  431 

Sec.  II.  The  Legislature  may  provide  for  the  donation  ot 
the  public  lands  to  actual  settlers.  But  such  donation  shall  not 
•exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  to  any  one  person. 

Sec.  12.  All  county  officers  shall  hold  their  respective 
•oftices  at  the  county  seats  of  their  counties. 

Sec.  13.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  the  speedy  pub- 
lication of  all  statutes  and  laws  of  a  general  nature.  All  decis- 
ions of  the  Supreme  Court  and  all  laws  and  judicial  decisions 
•shall  be  free  for  publication  by  any  person.  But  no  judgment 
of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  take  effect  and  be  operative  until  the 
opinion  of  the  court  in  such  case  shall  be  filed  with  the  Clerk  of 
of  said  court. 

Sec.  14.  The  Legislature  shall  not  create  any  office  the  term 
■of  which  shall  be  longer  than  four  years. 

Sec.  15.  The  Governor,  Cabinet,  and  Supreme  Court  shall 
keep  their  offices  at  the  seat  of  government.  But  in  case  of  in- 
vasion or  violent  epidemics  the  Governor  may  direct  that  the 
otfices  of  the  government  shall  be  removed  temporarily  to  some 
other  place ;  but  in  such  case  of  removal  all  the  departments  of 
the  government  shall  be  removed  to  one  place.  But  snch  re- 
moval shall  not  continue  longer  than  necessity  for  the  same  shall 
•continue. 

Sec  16.  A  plurality  of  votes  given  at  any  election  by  the 
people  shall  constitute  a  choice,  when  not  otherwise  provided  by 
this  Constitution. 

Sec.  17.  The  term  of  State  officers  elected  at  the  first  elec- 
tion under  this  Constitution,  not  otherwise  provided  for,  shall 
•continue  until  the  first  Tuesday  of  January,  A.  D.  1873,  and 
until  the  installation  of  their  successsors,  excepting  the  members 
of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  18.  Each  county  and  incorporated  city  shall  make 
provision  for  the  support  of  its  own  officers,  subject  to  such  reg- 
ulations as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  Each  county  shall  make 
provision  for  building  a  court-house  and  jail,  and  for  keeping 
the  same  in  good  repair. 

Sec.  19.  If  at  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  at  any  session,  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  has  not  been  qualified,  or  is  not  present, 
the  Senate  shall  elect  one  of  its  members  as  temporary  President 
before  proceeding  to  other  business. 

Sec.  20.  The  Legislature  shall  at  its  first  session  adopt  a 
.a  seal  for  the  State,  and  such  seal  shall  be  of  the  size  of  the 
American  silver  dollar.  But  said  seal  shall  not  again  be  changed 
after  its  adoption  by  the  Legislature;  and  the  Governor  shall, 
by  his  proclamation,  announce  that  said  seal  has  become  the 
great  seal  of  the  State. 

Sec.  21.  The  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,   and  all  tiie 


432 


APPKNDIX. 


State  officer^  elected  by  the  people,  shall  be  installed  on  the  first 
day  of  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  and  immediately  assume 
the  duties  of  their  respective  offices. 

Sec.  2  2.  The  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  shall 
have  been  before  their  election  to  office  nine  years  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  three  years  citizens  of  the  State.  All 
other  officers  snail  have  been  one  year  citizens  of  the  State,  and 
six  months  citizens  of  the  county  from  which  they  are  elected 
or  appointed.  Xo  person  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  unless 
he  be  a  registered  voter. 

Sec.  23.  The  Governor  or  any  State  officer  is  hereby  pro- 
hibited from  giving  certificates  of  election  or  other  credentials  to- 
any  person  a.s  having  been  elected  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  Congress,  or  the  United  States  Senate, 
who  has  not  been  t\vo  years  a  citizen  of  the  State,  and  nine  yea'-s 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  registered  voter. 

Sec.  24.  The  property  of  all  corporations,  whether  hereto- 
fore, or  hereafter  incorporated,  shall  be  subject  to  taxation,  un- 
less such  corporation  be  for  religious,  educational,  or  charitable 
purposes. 

*  Sec.  25.  All  bills,  bonds,  notes,  or  evidences  of  debt  out- 
standing and  mpaid,  given  for  or  in  consideration  of  bonds  or 
ireasury  notes  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  or  notes  and 
bonds  of  this  State  paid  and  redeemable  in  the  bonds  and  notes 
of  the  Confederate  States,  are  hereby  declared  null  and  void, 
and  no  action  shall  be  maintained  thereon  in  the  courts  of  this 
State. 

Sec.  26.  It  shall  be  the  duiy  of  the  courts  to  consider  that 
there  is  a  failure  of  consideration,  and  it  shall  be  so  held  by  the 
courts  of  this  State,  upon  all  deeds  or  bills  of  sale  given  for 
slaves  with  covenant  or  warranty  of  title  or  soundness,  or  both: 
upon  all  bonds,  notes,  or  other  evidences  of  debt,  given  for  or 
!n  consideration  of  slaves,  which  are  now  outstaading  and  un- 
paid, and  no  action  shall  be  maintained  thereon;  and  all  judge- 
ments and  decrees  rendered  in  any  of  the  courts  of  this  State 
since  the  loth  day  of  January,  A.  I).,  1861,  upon  all  deeds  or 
r)ills  of  sale,  or  upon  any  bond,  bill,  note,  or  other  evidence 
of  debt  based  upon  the  sale  or  purchase  ot  slaves,  are  hereby 
declared  set  aside,  and  the  plea  of  failure  of  consideration  shall 
])e  held  a  good  defence  in  all  actions  to  said  suit;  and  when 
money  was  due  previous  to  the  loth  day  of  January,  1861,  and 
slaves  were  given  in  consideration  for  such  money,  there  shall 
])e  deemed  a  failure  of  consideration  for  the  debt:  Provided, 
That  settlements  and  compromises  made  by  the  parties  thereto 
shall  be  respected. 

Sec.  27.   All  persons  who  as  alien   enemies  under    the  se- 


APPENDIX.  433 

questration  act  of  the  so-called  Confederate  Congress,  and  no^ 
resident  of  the  State,  had  property  sequestered  and  sold  by  any 
person  acting  under  a  Ia>v  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States, 
or  the  State  of  Florida,  subsequent  to  the  loth  day  of  January, 
A.  D.,  1861,  and  prior  to  the  ist  day  of  May,  1865,  shall  be 
empowered  to  file  a  bill  in  equity  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
State,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  obtain  judgment  against  the  State 
for  all  damages  sustained  by  said  sale  and  detention  of  property. 
The  court  shall  estimate  the  damages  upon  the  assessed  valua- 
tion of  the  property  in  question  in  the  year  A.  D.,  i860,  with 
interest  at  six  per  cent,  from  the  time  the  owner  was  deprived 
of  the  same.  But  all  judgments  against  the  State  shall  be  paid 
only  in  certificates  of  indebtedness  redeemable  in  State  lands. 
Said  certificates  shall  be  issued  by  the  Governor,  countersigned 
by  the  Secretary  of  State  and  by  the  Comptroller  upon  the  de- 
cree of  the  court.  Oral  testimony  shall  be  sufficient  to  estab- 
lish a  sale  having  been  made. 

Sec.  28.  There  shall  be  no  civil  or  political  distinction  in 
this  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition 
of  servitude,  and  the  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  prohibit 
by  law  any  class  of  persons  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previ- 
ous condition  of  servitude,  to  vote  or  hold  any  office,  beyond 
the  conditions  prescribed  by  this  Constitution. 

Sec.  29.  The  apportionixfent  for  the  Assembly  shall  be  as 
follows:  Escambia,  two;  Santa  Rosa,  one;  Walton,  one;  Holmes, 
one;  Washington,  one;  Jackson,  three;  Calhoun,  one;  Gadsden, 
two;  Franklin,  one;  Liberty,  one;  Wakulla,  one;  Leon,  four; 
Jefferson,  three;  Madison,  two;  Taylor,  one;  Hamilton,  one; 
Suwannee,  one;  Layayette,  one;  Alachua,  two;  Columbia,  two; 
Baker,  one;  Bradford,  one;  Nassau,  one;  Duval,  two;  Clay,  one; 
St.  John's  one;  Putnam,  one;  Marion,  two;  Levy,  one;  Volusia,  one; 
one;  Orange,  one;  Brevard,  one;  Dade,  one;  Hillsborough,  one; 
Hernando,  one;  Sumpter,  one;  Polk,  one;  Manatee,  one;  and 
Monroe,  one.  There  shall  be  twenty-four  senatorial  districts, 
which  shall  be  as  follows,  and  shall  be  known  by  their  respec- 
tive numbers  from  one  to  twenty-four  inclusive.  The  first  sen- 
atorial district  shall  be  composed  of  Escambia  county,  the  sec- 
ond of  Santa  Rosa  and  Walton,  the  third  of  Jackson,  the  fourth 
of  Holmes  and  Washington,  the  fifth  of  Calhoun  and  Franklin, 
the  sixth  of  Gadsden,  the  seventh  of  Liberty  and  Wakulla,  the 
eighth  of  Leon,  the  ninth  of  Jefferson,  the  tenth  of  Madison,  the 
eleventh  of  Hamilton  and  Suwannee,  the  twelfth  of  Lafayette 
and  Taylor,  the  thirteenth  of  Alachua  and  Levy,  the  fourteenth 
of  Columbia,  the  fifteenth  of  Bradford  and  Clay,  the  sixteenth 
of  Baker  and  Nassau,  the  seventeenth  of  St.  John's  and  Putnam, 

37 


434 


APPENDIX. 


the  eighteenth  of  Duval,  the  nineteenth  of  Marion,  the  twentieth 
of  Volusia  and  Orange,  the  twenty-first  of  Dade  and  Brevard, 
the  twenty-second  of  Hillsborough  and  Hernando,  the  twenty- 
third  of  Sumter  and  Polk,  the  twenty-fourth  of  Manatee  and 
Monroe,  and  each  senatorial  district  shall  be  entitled  to  one 
Senator. 

Sec.  30.  No  person  shall  ever  be  appointed  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  or  Circuit  Court  who  is  not  twenty-five  years  of  age 
and  a  practicing  attorney  in  this  State. 

Sec.  31.  The  Legislature  shall  as  soon  as  convenient  adopt 
a  State  emblem,  having  the  design  of  the  greai  seal  of  the  State 
impressed  upon  a  white  ground  of  six  feet  six  inches  fly  and  six 
feet  deep. 

ARTICLE  XVn 
amendments. 

Section  i.  Any  amendment  or  amendments  to  this  Con- 
stitution may  be  proposed  in  either  branch  of  the  Legislature, 
and  if  the  same  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all 
the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two  houses,  such  proposed 
amendment  or  amendments  shall  be  entered  on  their  respective 
journals,  with  the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred  to  the 
Legislature  then  next  to  be  chosen,  and  shall  be  published  for 
three  months  next  preceding  the  time  of  making  such  choice, 
and  if,  in  the  Legislature  next  chosen  as  aforesaid,  such  pro- 
posed amendment  or  amendments  shall  be  agreed  to  by  two- 
thirds  vote  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  house,  then  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  submit  such  proposed 
amendment  or  amendments  to  the  people  in  such  manner  and  at 
such  a  time  as  the  Legislature  may  prescribe,  and  if  the  people  shall 
approve  and  ratify  such  amendment  or  amendments  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  electors  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  Leg- 
islature voting  thereon,  such  amendment  or  amendments  shall 
become  a  part  of  the  constitution. 

Sec.  2.  If  at  any  time  the  Legislature,  by  a  vote  of  a  ma- 
jority of  all  the  members  elected  to  eaeh  of  the  two  houses,  shall 
determine  that  it  is  necessary  to  cause  a  revision  of  this  entire 
constitution,  such  determination  shall  be  entered  on  their  re- 
spective journals,  with  the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred 
to  the  Legislature  then  next  to  be  chosen,  and  shall  be  published 
for  three  months  next  preceding  the  time  of  making  such  choice. 
And  if  the  Legislature  next  chosen  aforesaid  such  proposed  re- 
vision shall  be  agreed  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected 
to  each  house,  then  it  shall  be   the  duty   of  the  Legislature  to 


APPENDIX. 


435 


recommend  to  the  electors  of  the  next  election  for  members  of 
Legislature  to  vote  for  or  against  a  convention;  and  if  it  shall  ap- 
pear that  a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  at  such  election  shall 
have  voted  in  favor  of  calling  a  convention,  the  Legislature  shall, 
at  its  next  session,  provide  by  law  for  a  convention  to  be  holden 
within  six  months  alter  the  passage  of  such  law,  and  such  con- 
vention shall  consist  of  a  number  of  members  not  less  than  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature.  In  determining  what  is  a  majority 
of  the  electors  voting  at  such  election,  reference  shall  be  had  to 
the  highest  number  of  votes  cast  at  such  election  for  the  candi- 
dates for  any  office  or  on  any  question. 

Done  in  open  convention.  In  witness  whereof,  we,  the  un- 
dersigned delegates,  representing  the  people  of  F'lorida,.in  con- 
vention assembled,  do  hereunto  affix  our  name  this  the  twenty- 
fifth  day  of  February,  anno  Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-eight,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
the  ninety-second,  and  the  secretary  doth  countersign  the  same. 
HORATIO"  (ENKINS,  Jr.,  President. 
S.   CONANT,   Secretary. 

Countersigned  by — 


George  J.  Alden. 
Lyman  W,  Rowley. 
J.  W.  Butler. 
John  L.  Campbell. 
W.  J.  Purman. 
L.  C.  Armistead. 
E.  Fortune. 
H.  Bryan. 
M.  L.  Stearns. 
J.  E.  A.  Davidson. 
Frederick  Hill. 
J.  W.  Child.v 
T.  W.  Osborn. 
Joseph  E.  Oats. 
Richard  Wells. 
Green  Davidson. 
O.  B.  Armstrong. 
John  Wyatt. 
John  W.  Powell. 
Robert  Meacham. 
Anthony  Mills. 
A.  G.  Bass. 


Roland  T.  Rombauer. 

Major  Johnson. 

William  R.  Cone. 

Thomas  Urquhart. 

Andrew  Shuler. 

J.  N.  Krimminger. 

William  K.  Cessna 

Josiah  T.  Walls. 

S.  B-  Conover. 

Auburn  Erwin- 

B.  McRae. 

A.  B.  Hart. 

N.  C.  Dennett. 

William  Bradwell 
J.  C.  Gibbs. 
J.  H.  Goss. 
A.  Chandler. 
W   Rogers. 
Samuel  J.  Pearce 
C.  R.  Mobley. 
David  Mizell. 
E.  L.  Ware. 


I,  Sherman  Conant,  secretary  of  the  said  convention,  do 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  constitution 
adopted  on  the  25th  day  of  February,  A    D.,  1868. 

SHERMAN  CONANT,   Secretary, 


APPENDIX    D 


FLORIDA  POLITICAL  FRAUDS. 

The  following  correspondence  between  Mr.  George  Couch, 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  who,  with  his  family,  spent  last  win- 
ter and  spring  in  Tallahassee,  and  Mr.  Hilton,  of  this  city, 
speaks  for  itself: 

Canandaigua,  October  6,  1876. 
Judge  Hilton^  Tallahassee.  Fla.: 

Dear  Sir — I  learned  while  at  Florida  that  in  your  Govern- 
or's election,  when  Bloxham  run,  that  it  turned  out  at  or  nearly 
the  close  of  the  time  of  the  expiration  of  office,  that  Bloxham 
was  fairly  elected  but  was  cheated  out  of  the  office  through 
fraudulent  returns.  I  wish  you  would  write  out  the  facts  relat- 
ing to  this  and  send  them  to  me  immediately  in  a  statement  that 
I  can  vouch  for.  I  want  to  show  some  of  the  croakers  that  the 
frauds  practiced  South  come  from  a  different  side  of  the  house 
than  what  they  preach.      Please  answer  by  return  mail. 

GEORGE  COUCH. 

Tallahassee,  October  12,  1876- 
George  Couch,  Esq.,  Canandaigua,  N.   Y.: 

Dear  Sir — To  your  note  of  the  6th  mst. ,  received  this 
morning,  I  reply  at  once. 

The  facts  of  the  case  to  which  you  refer  are  these:  At  the 
election  held  in  this  State,  November  8,  1870,  W.  D.  Bloxham, 
Esq.,  was  candidate  for  the  office,  not  of  Governor,  but  Lieii- 
tenant-Governor;  Mr.  Niblack  being  at  the  same  election  candi- 
date for  the  office  of  Representative  in  Congress — Florida  then 
compsising  but  one  Congressional  District.  Both  were  Demo- 
crats, and  both  were  elected.  Their  opponents  were  Samuel  T. 
Day,  for  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Mr.  Josiah  T. 
Walls  (colored)  for  Congressman,  Republicans ;  and  they,  though 
neither  of  them  received  as  many  votes  as  his  Democratic  com- 
petitor, were  declared  by  the  State  Canvassing  Board  elected. 
The  Canvassing  Board  consisted  at  the  time  of  Jonathan  C. 
Gibbs  (colored).  Secretary  of  State,  Sherman  Conant,  Attorney. 
General  (and  at  the  same  time  Deputy  U.  S.  Marshal),  both 
Republicans,  and  R.  H.  Gamble,  an  old  Line  Whig,  who  dis- 
sented  from  the  action  of  a  majority  of  the  Board. 


43S  APPENDIX. 

The  Board  were  able  to  perpetrate  this  outrage  by  suppress, 
ing  and  refusing  to  canvass  and  count  the  returns  from  nine 
counties,  in  which  Bloxham  received  a  majority  of  678  votes, 
and  in  which  Niblack  received  a  still  larger  majority. 

As  counsel  Tor  Mr.  Bloxham,  I  thereupon  applied  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  (our  highest  judicial  tribunal),  for 
an  order  (known  in  law  as  a  writ  of  mandamus)^  to  compel  the 
Board  to  include  in  the  canvass  the  rejected  returns,  and  as  a 
result  to  declare  Bloxham  elected,  and  to  award  him  a  certificate 
of  his  election.  The  petition  praying  for  the  mandaTnus  set  forth 
fully  the  facts  of  the  case — that  the  election  had  been  held — that 
Bloxham  was  a  candidate — that  he  possessed  the  legal  qualifica- 
tions for  the  office — that  he  had  received  a  majority  of  the  votes 
cast,  but  was  wrongfully  denied  a  certificate  of  his  election  by 
the  refusal  of  the  Board  to  canvass  and  count  the  votes  cast  in 
the  nine  counties  above  mentioned.  None  of  these  facts  were 
denied  by  the  counsel  for  the  Board  in  the  arguments  before  the 
court  on  the  question  of  granting  the  peremptory  writ.  The 
objection  made  was  that  the  court  had  no  jurisdiction,  of  the  case, 
and  for  that  reason  should  not  make  the  order.  But  the  author- 
ities furnished  by  the  decisions  of  other  judicial  tribunals  (par- 
ticularly of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa),  were  so  directly  in 
point  that  our  court  was  compelled  to  decide  that  it  had  rightful 
jurisdiction  in  the  matter.  But  the  court  discovered  a  very  nice 
technical  defect  in  the  petition  for  the  fnandamus,  which  had  not 
occurred  either  to  the  minds  of  counsel  for  the  Board  or  to  that 
of  counsel  for  Bloxham.,  which  was  this:  The  petition  not  only 
asked  that  the  Board  of  Canvassers  be  ordered  to  count  the  re- 
jected returns  and  declare  Bloxham  elected  (which  was  all  right), 
but  that  the  Secretary  of  State  as  the  organ  of  the  Board 
(made  so  by  law),  be  required  to  give  him  a  certificate  of  his 
election.  The  court  held  that  inasmuch  as  the  Board  had  not 
counted  all  the  the  returns  and  declared  Bloxham  elected,  it  had 
never  been  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  to  furnish  him  the  certifi- 
cate; that  the  petition  must  therefore  be  amended  by  striking 
out  so  much  as  asked  that  that  officer  be  ordered  to  give  the 
certificate,  and  that  upon  such  amendment  being  made  the 
order  requiring  the  Board  to  count  the  rejected  returns  and  de- 
clare Bloxham  elected,  would  be  granted. 

The  petition  was  thereupon  amended  to  meet  the  views  of 
the  court.  A  few  days  f perhaps  three  or  four),  however, 
elapsed  before  the  matter  could  be  brought  in  the  court  again ; 
and  then  it  was  discovered  that  during  the  interval  a  bill  had 
been  surreptitiously  hurried  through  the  Legislature  (in  which 
body,  by  reason  of  the  rejection  of  the  returns  from  the  eight 
counties,  the  Republicans  bad  secured  a  majority)  and   had  be- 


APPENDIX.  439 

come  a  law  bv  the  approval  of  the  Governor,  whereby  the  State 
Canvassing  Board  had  been  abolished,  so  that,  as  the  court  held, 
there  could  be  no  further  legal  proceedings  against  them  to 
compel  them  to  do  their  duty.  Thus  (as  far  as  I  am  aware),  by 
an  unprecedented  legislative  outrage,  judicial  proceedings  insti- 
tuted in  the  name  ot  the  State,  to  secure  for  one  of  her  citizens 
the  office  to  which  a  majority  of  the  people  had  elected  him, 
were  summarily  arrested. 

If  you  have  access  to  any  lawyer's  library  containing  the  Flor- 
ida Reports  you  will  find  the  case  published  in  the  13  volume, 
Florida  Reports,  comm.encing  at  page  55,  where  all  the  facts  are 
given.  The  title  of  the  case  is  "The  State  of  Florida  ex  rel" 
Wm.  D.  Bloxham  vs.  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  Secretary  of  State,  et 
aV  Thus  thwarted  in  the  prosecution  of  his  legal  rights 
through  the  summary  and  expeditious  process  of  mandamus 
by  the  intervention  of  the  Legislature,  nothing  was  left  for  Blox- 
ham but  to  institute  in  the  same  court  tedious  proceedings  by  an 
action  at  law  against  his  competitor  to  recover  the  office.  In 
these  proceedings,  involving  great  expense  and  delays,  he  v/as 
finally  successful,  and  by  the  unanimous  judgment  of  a  court, 
two-thirds  of  whose  members  were  Republican  in  politics,  he  ob- 
tained a  decision  awarding  him  the  office  to  which  the  people 
had  more  than  eighteen  months  previous  elected  him.  This 
second  case,  for  some  reason  which  we  are  left  to  conjecture, 
has  not  gone  into  the  Florida  Reports,  but  I  send  you  a  certified 
copy  of  the  judgment  rendered,  taken  from  the  records. 

'  As  regards  Judge  Niblack,  elected  to  Congress  at  the  same 
time  that  Mr.  Bloxham  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
defrauded  of  a  certificate  of  his  election  in  the  same  way,  what 
of  him?  I  answer,  after  a  contest  before  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives at  Washmgton,  he  finally  suceeded  in  ousting  Walls, 
who  had  usurped  the  seat  for  twenty-ihree  months.  This  tardy 
act  of  justice  he  obtained  at  the  hands  of  members  of  Congress 
two-thirds  of  whom  were  Republican.  I  may  add  that  in  the 
election  of  1874,  the  same  gentleman,  Mr.  Walls,  was  again  a 
candidate  for  Congress,  Judge  Finley  being  his  Democratic  op- 
ponent. Again  he  obtained  a  certificate  of  election  to  a  seat  to 
which  he  appears  not  to  have  been  entided;  and  again  the 
House  of  Representatives  (this  time  Democratic)  after  a  much 
shorter  contest,  however,  required  him  to  give  place  to  his  Dem- 
ocratic opponent. 

One  thing  I  have  not  mentioned  in  connecdon  with  the 
State  Canvassing  Board  who  perpetrated  the  fraud  of  which 
Bloxham  and  Niblack  and  the  people  who  elected  them  were 
the  victims.  That  is  this:  Sherman  Conant,  U.  S.  Deputy 
Marshal  and  now  holding  the  office  of  Marshal,  was  not  Attor^ 


440  APPENDIX. 

ney-General  and  thus  a  member  of  the  State  Canvassing  Board 
at  the  time  of  that  election.  The  then  Attorney-General  re- 
signed between  the  date  of  the  election  and  the  day  when  the 
election  returns  were  canvassed.  He  resigned,  it  is  believed, 
rather  than  be  a  party  to  the  fraud  which  the  Republican  man- 
agers required  at  the  hands  of  the  Board.  Marshal  Conant  was 
appointed  to  the  vacant  office  of  Attorney-General,  and  thus 
one  of  the  Board  of  Canvassers  (still,  however,  retaining  his 
Federal  office)  because  his  reputation  as  a  ballot-box  stuffer,  es- 
tablished at  the  election  for  Governor  in  1868,  showed  that  there 
was  no  political  job  unworthy  of  his  hands.  As  I  have  said,  he 
is  still  United  States  Marshal. 

It  was  during  his  reign  when  it  was  necessary,  in  187 1,  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  for  the  Republicans  to  obtain 
control  of  the  Senate,  that  two  Democratic  Senators  were  arrested 
here  at  the  capital  and  taken  ofi"  165  miles  to  Jacksonville  (al- 
though Tallahassee  was  and  is  one  of  the  places  fixed  by  law  for 
holding  the  U.  S.  Court).  They  were  kept  at  Jacksonville  on  a 
trumped  up  charge  of  crime,  for  which  neither  of  them  was  ever 
tried,  imtil  the  Radicals,  by  ousting  me7?ibers  entitled  to  seats 
and  ptitti?ig  in  t/ieir  places  7ne?i  havifig  no  clai?n  to  membership,  ob- 
tained a  working  majority  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature. 
Under  the  same  reign,  too,  it  was  that  a  few  days  before  the 
Tallahassee  municipal  election  in  187 1,  at  which  it  was  thought 
the  vote  between  parties  would  be  very  close,  a  number  of  our 
prominent  citizens,  all  Democrats,  were  taken  to  Jacksonville, 
at  the  expense  of  the  United  States  Government,  as  witnesses, 
summoned  to  go  before  the  U.  S  Grand  Jury,  not  one  of  whom 
was,  after  getting  there,  called  upon  to  testify. 

In  view  of  outrages  like  these,  the  recital  of  which  would 
fill  not  a  letter  but  a  volume,  which  we  have  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  our  carpet-bag  officials,  both  State  and  Federal — (our 
Legislature  has  been  largely  controlled  by  Federal  office  holders 
also  members  of  that  body),  you  need  not  be  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  people  of  Florida  are  looking  with  aching  eyes  and 
yearning  hearts  for  the  man,  be  he  Tilden  or  Hayes,  who  is  to 
give  us  Civil  Service  Reform.  Only  this,  however,  I  add:  as 
Conant  &  Co.  are  the  agencies  by  which  the  reform  is  expected 
to  be  accomplished  here,  in  the  event  of  the  election  of  Governor 
Hayes,  and  as  they  are  the  parties  to  be  reformed  by  their  own 
expulsion  from  office,  we  are  not  sanguine  as  to  the  success  of  the 
reform  promised  us  by  the  Northern  supporters  of  the  Republi- 
can Presidential  candidate.  "Can  Beelzebub  cast  out  devils?" 
or  will  he  if  he  can  ? 

Very  truly  vour  friend, 

R.  B.  Hilton. 


j?lPfe:ndix  e. 

Tallahassee,  Fla.,  Jan.  31,  1887. 
Hon.  Harrison  Reed,  Jacksonville^  Fla.: 

Dear  Sir — I  am  engaged  in  writing  up  the  history  of  the 
reconstruction  of  this  State,  and  as  you  were  the  centre  of  attrac- 
tion in  this  theatre,  please  give  me  correct  information  on  the 
following  points,  which  were  commonly  rumored  over  the  State 
while  you  were  Governor:  Was  there  any  attempt  made  by  Pur- 
man,  Stearns  &  Co.  to  do  violence  to  you  while  Governor  in 
order  to  get  you  out  of  the  way  at  all  hazards?  Did  you  ever 
overhear  any  of  this  gang  at  any  place  plotting  to  put  you  to 
death?  If  so,  please  state  their  names  and  the  circumstances. 
This  information  will  be  thankfully  received  by  me. 
Yours  truly, 

JOHN  WALLACE. 
South  Jacksonville,  Feb.  9,  1887. 
Hon.  John  Wallace: 

Dear  Sir — In  reply  to  the  enquiries  of  your  letter  of  31st 
¥ilt.,  I  regret  to  say  that  at  various  periods  during  my  official 
term  as  Governor  attempts  were  made  by  persons  holding  Fed- 
eral offices,  by  procurement  of  Senator  Osborn,  to  compel  me 
to  surrender  my  office ;  but  I  was  not  personally  cognizant  of 
any  intended  violence  other  than  that  which  attended  the  at- 
tempt to  forcibly  install  Lieutenant-Governor  Gleason  as  Gov- 
ernor. On  that  occasion  a  conspiracy  was  formed  by  Osborn 
and  his  military  satraps,  and  the  Richards-Billings  faction,  to  de- 
pose me  by  violence  and  take  possession  of  the  capitol.  This 
was  within  a  few  months  after  my  inauguration,  in  consequence 
of  my  refusal  to  obey  their  dictation  to  ''vandalize  the  State," 
to  quote  the  expression  of  Osborn,  in  my  exercise  of  the  appoint- 
ing power.  It  embraced  all  the  prominent  Federal  office-hold- 
ers in  the  State,  from  the  marshal  down,  most  of  whom  were  in 
the  Legislature,  subject  to  orders  from  Osborn  under  penalty  of 
removal.  This  conspiracy  was  defeated  only  through  the  vigi- 
lance of  Adjutant-General  Carse,  aided  by  the  faithful  and  in- 


442 


APPENDIX. 


corruptible  Sheriff  Munger,  of  Leon  county,   sustained  by  lead- 
ing citizens. 

On  that  occasion  the  capitol  was  under  siege,  and  for  forty- 
six  days  and  nights  was  guarded  by  an  armed  force  of  volunteers 
under  General  Carse.  By  way  of  intimidation  signal  rockets 
were  sent  up  during  the  night  from  the  City  Hotel,  where  the 
revolutionists  had  their  headquarters,  and  my  boarding-house 
was  frequently  disturbed  on  stormy  nights  by  the  firing  of  guns 
and  pistols  in  close  proximity.  These  measures  not  securing  the 
desired  effect,  a  plan  was  devised  to  take  me  from  my  room  by 
night  and  secretly  dispose  of  me,  while  arousing  the  North  by 
the  charge  that  a  Republican  Governor  had  been  assassinated  by 
^ 'rebel  Ku-Klux;"  and  this  was  only  frustrated  by  its  discovery 
to  General  Carse,  to  whose  vigilance  on  that  occasion  I  owe  my 
life. 

At  a  later  period  I  was  advised  by  letter  of  a  meeting  of 
three  of  the  conspirators  at  a  room  in  the  City  Hotel,  at  which 
it  was  agreed  that  I  should  be  violently  disposed  of.  Purman 
was  not  of  the  alleged  two,  but  Stearns  was,  and  the  other  two 
were  Federal  office-holders  who  were  conspicuous  in  the  three 
subsequent  attempts  at  my  impeachment  which  dishonored  the 
Republican  name  and  overthrew  the  Republican  party  in  the 
State. 

Soon  after  this  alleged  meeting  at  the  City  Hotel,  the  noto- 
rious Luke  Lott,  of  Calhoun  county,  appeared  in  Tallahassee 
for  the  avowed  purpose  to  assassinate  me,  and  was  only  pre- 
vented by  my  temporary  absence,  and  through  the  intervention 
of  Governor  Bloxham,  who  learned  his  mission  and  persuaded 
him  to  abandon  it. 

I  received  repeated  anonymous  threats,  and  wherever  I 
went  on  official  or  private  business  I  was  followed  by  Osborn's 
spies  and  emissaries,  and  on  one  occasion  was  arrested  in  New 
York  at  4  o'clock  in  the  aftei noon,  on  criminal  charges  framed 
in  Washington,  and  sworn  to  by  a  man  I  had  never 
seen,  admitted  to  be  wholly  false,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  compelling  my  confinement  to  Ludlow  Street  Jail  over  Sun- 
day. It  was  supposed  that  at  that  late  hour  I  could  not 
obtain  legal  assistance,    but,    fortunately,    Lieutenant-Governor 


APPENDIX.  443 

Woodford  was  found,   and  immediately    successfully   interfered 
in  my  behalf. 

When  I  assumed  the  prerogatives  of  my  office,  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  court  convened  for  my  impeachment,  the  infa- 
mous Lieutenant-Governor  Day  publicly  offered  a  reward  for 
my  head,  and,  with  the  approval  of  a  Republican  gathering  at 
Jacksonville,  threatened  to  hang  me  in  she  Capitol  Square  if 
caught  in  Tallahassee. 

Subsequently,  when  Day  was  ousted  as  Lieutenant-Governor 
by  the  court  and  Bloxham  declared  elected,  I  received  from 
Washington,  marked  "Important"  and  headed  "Strictly  Pri- 
vate," a  letter  from  a  prominent  representative  of  Osborn  & 
Stearns'  Great  Southern  Railway  Swindle,  a  letter  of  which  the 
following  is  a  true  copy: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  June  2nd.,  1872. 
Hon.  H.  Reed: 

Dear  Governor — I  deem  it  my  duty  to  put  you  in  posses- 
sion of  some  important  information  I  came  across  this  morning 
when  I  went  to  breakfast  at  the  Ebbitt  House.  I  was  called 
one  side  by  a  prominent  Georgia  Democrat  with  whom  I  became 
acquainted  two  years  ago  at  Atlanta,  and  whom  I  served  by 
helping  him  in  a  measure  he  had  before  Governor  Bullock  for 
his  approval.  This  gentleman  askeu  me  if  I  was  a  friend  of 
Governor  Reed,  and  if  I  had  any  interest  in  you  personally?  I 
replied,  of  course  I  had,  and,  as  he  knew,  was  largely  interested 
in  railroad  matters.  He  then  asked  me  if  I  had  seen  the  Press 
dispatches  in  the  morning  paper?  I  replied  I  had  not  yet  read 
the  papers,  when  he  called  my  attention  to  the  dispatch  saying 
Bloxham  was  sworn  in  as  Lieutenant-Governor.  He  said  he 
was  anxious  to  put  me  on  my  guard  and  to  give  me  some  very 
valuable  information  for  my  own  benefit,  but  I  must  pledge  that 
I  would  in  no  way  divulge  or  in  any  way  let  the  knowledge  out 
to  any  other  person.  I  gave  him  a  promise  which  I  do  not 
think  I  am  now  breaking  by  revealing  this  conversation  to  you. 
This  man  says  that  certain  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Florida  Dem- 
ocrats were  here  and  had  had  a  secret  caucus,  and  that  it  had 
been  determined  that  Reed  should  not  be  in  the  way  of  the  elec- 
tion this  fall,  and  that  Bloxham  now  being  in  the  succession  and 


444  AFPENJ)IX. 

Georgia  and  Alabama  being  Democratic,  that  Florida  must  be 
so,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of  Reed,  who  should  be  put  under  the 
ground  if  he  did  not  ([uietly  give  way  to  them.  He  advised  me 
to  make  friends  with  Bloxham,  and  he  and  Governor  Smith 
would  help  me  through  with  my  road.  I  asked  him  if  he  was 
in  earnest,  and  he  said  most  emi)hatically,  ''By  God,  old  Reed 
will  not  be  alive  three  months  if  he  don't  surrender.  We  now 
have  a  chance,  and  we  shall  not  let  it  slip  — we  are  bound  to 
have  Florida  from  the  Republicans,  cost  what  it  may,  and  the 
only  thing  now  in  the  way  is  Reed."  1  put  the  question  to  him 
in  half  a  dozen  different  ways  "how  they  intended  to  get  con- 
trol, and  he  replied  each  time  in  the  same  manner.  They  now 
had  the  State  and  Reed  must  bite  the  dust  or  surrender.  I  then 
asked  him  to  give  me  the  names  of  the  parties  in  this  move,  and 
he  replied:  "  You  did  me  a  favor  in  Atlanta  two  years  ago  ;  I 
now  do  you  one  telling  you  how  to  secure  your  railroad  inter- 
ests in  both  States,  but  you  ask  me  more  than  I  will  tell  when 
you  ask  for  names."  This  is  all  I  could  get,  and  give  it  to  you 
as  I  got  it,  believing,  as  I  do,  every  word  of  it.  I  have  done 
only  for  you  what  1  believe  you  would  have  done  for  me,  and 
if  I  have  done  you  a  service  I  shall  be  glad. 
I  am,  yours  very  respectfully, 


h.  Box  183,  Washington,  1).  C. 

It  would  take  reams  of  paper  to  give  you  all  the  details  of 
the  conspiracy  to  subvert  the  State  government  to  corrupt  pur- 
poses and  involve  the  State  in  dishonor  for  the  benefit  of  an 
army  of  "bummers"  and  political  adventurers  who  fastened 
upon  the  Freedman's  Bureau  to  debauch  the  freedmen  for  per- 
sonal aggrandizement.  Suffice  it  that  the  conspirators  were 
thwarted  and,  with  a  few  exceptions,  have  gone*  hence,  leaving 
the  State  to  their  political  opponents,  who  are  doing  their  best 
to  render  Republican  administration  respectable  in  comparison. 
Very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

HARRISON  REED. 


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